Oxford University Press expressed interest in Carson's book proposal for a life history of the ocean, spurring her to complete by early 1950 the manuscript of what would become "The Sea Around Us".• An apocryphal story holds that the book was rejected by over twenty publishers before Oxford University Press. In fact, it may have only been sent to one other publisher before being accepted, though Rodell and Carson worked extensively to place chapters and excerpts in periodicals.</ref> Chapters appeared in "Science Digest" and "The Yale Review"—the latter chapter, "The Birth of an Island", winning the American Association for the Advancement of Science's George Westinghouse Science Writing Prize. Nine chapters were serialized in "The New Yorker" beginning June 1951 and the book was published July 2, 1951, by Oxford University Press. "The Sea Around Us" remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 86 weeks, was abridged by "Reader's Digest", won the 1952 National Book Award for Nonfiction(With acceptance speech by Carson and essay by Neil Baldwin from the Awards 50-year anniversary publications.)</ref> and the John Burroughs Medal, and resulted in Carson's being awarded two honorary doctorates. She also licensed a documentary film based on it. "The Sea" success led to the republication of "Under the Sea Wind", which became a bestseller itself. With success came financial security, and in 1952 Carson was able to give up her job in order to concentrate on writing full-time.