Great Desert Explorers

Great Desert Explorers PDF Author: Andrew Goudie
Publisher:
ISBN: 1900971461
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Desert exploration, like climbing Everest or polar expeditions, is not for the faint-hearted, and many of the vivid tales within this fascinating biographical history end in tragedy. However, the informative and absorbing descriptions of the extraordinary journeys, challenges and achievements of these intrepid figures, are captivating. They risked their lives variously for good old fashioned epic adventure, solitude, fame, the answer to mythical questions and some were even spies. They experienced fear, excitement and hardship in their journeys into the unknown. There are many books on exploration but remarkably few on desert exploration. Moreover, some of the great desert explorers of the last three hundred years are now very little remembered or appreciated in comparison, say, with those who ventured to the poles, climbed Everest, or sought the source of the Nile. Yet, crossing unknown deserts is no less challenging. This volume finally brings these Great Desert Explorers into the limelight, with short, illustrated biographies of around 60 of the most interesting, intrepid and important explorers of the world’s greatest deserts. There is also a brief introduction to each desert region. The many original quotations, illustrations and maps, contemporary figures, as well as plates of a range of desert landscapes make this a colourful, lively and informative read.

Great Desert Explorers

Great Desert Explorers PDF Author: Andrew Goudie
Publisher:
ISBN: 1900971461
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book

Book Description
Desert exploration, like climbing Everest or polar expeditions, is not for the faint-hearted, and many of the vivid tales within this fascinating biographical history end in tragedy. However, the informative and absorbing descriptions of the extraordinary journeys, challenges and achievements of these intrepid figures, are captivating. They risked their lives variously for good old fashioned epic adventure, solitude, fame, the answer to mythical questions and some were even spies. They experienced fear, excitement and hardship in their journeys into the unknown. There are many books on exploration but remarkably few on desert exploration. Moreover, some of the great desert explorers of the last three hundred years are now very little remembered or appreciated in comparison, say, with those who ventured to the poles, climbed Everest, or sought the source of the Nile. Yet, crossing unknown deserts is no less challenging. This volume finally brings these Great Desert Explorers into the limelight, with short, illustrated biographies of around 60 of the most interesting, intrepid and important explorers of the world’s greatest deserts. There is also a brief introduction to each desert region. The many original quotations, illustrations and maps, contemporary figures, as well as plates of a range of desert landscapes make this a colourful, lively and informative read.

Great Desert Explorers

Great Desert Explorers PDF Author: Andrew Goudie
Publisher:
ISBN: 1900971488
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Desert exploration, like climbing Everest or polar expeditions, is not for the faint-hearted, and many of the vivid tales within this fascinating biographical history end in tragedy. However, the informative and absorbing descriptions of the extraordinary journeys, challenges and achievements of these intrepid figures, are captivating. They risked their lives variously for good old fashioned epic adventure, solitude, fame, the answer to mythical questions and some were even spies. They experienced fear, excitement and hardship in their journeys into the unknown. There are many books on exploration but remarkably few on desert exploration. Moreover, some of the great desert explorers of the last three hundred years are now very little remembered or appreciated in comparison, say, with those who ventured to the poles, climbed Everest, or sought the source of the Nile. Yet, crossing unknown deserts is no less challenging. This volume finally brings these Great Desert Explorers into the limelight, with short, illustrated biographies of around 60 of the most interesting, intrepid and important explorers of the world’s greatest deserts. There is also a brief introduction to each desert region. The many original quotations, illustrations and maps, contemporary figures, as well as plates of a range of desert landscapes make this a colourful, lively and informative read.

Journeys on the Silk Road

Journeys on the Silk Road PDF Author: Joyce Morgan
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0762787333
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
When a Chinese monk broke into a hidden cave in 1900, he uncovered one of the world’s great literary secrets: a time capsule from the ancient Silk Road. Inside, scrolls were piled from floor to ceiling, undisturbed for a thousand years. The gem within was the Diamond Sutra of AD 868. This key Buddhist teaching, made 500 years before Gutenberg inked his press, is the world’s oldest printed book. The Silk Road once linked China with the Mediterranean. It conveyed merchants, pilgrims and ideas. But its cultures and oases were swallowed by shifting sands. Central to the Silk Road’s rediscovery was a man named Aurel Stein, a Hungarian-born scholar and archaeologist employed by the British service. Undaunted by the vast Gobi Desert, Stein crossed thousands of desolate miles with his fox terrier Dash. Stein met the Chinese monk and secured the Diamond Sutra and much more. The scroll’s journey—by camel through arid desert, by boat to London’s curious scholars, by train to evade the bombs of World War II—merges an explorer’s adventures, political intrigue, and continued controversy. The Diamond Sutra has inspired Jack Kerouac and the Dalai Lama. Its journey has coincided with the growing appeal of Buddhism in the West. As the Gutenberg Age cedes to the Google Age, the survival of the Silk Road’s greatest treasure is testament to the endurance of the written word.

Wonders of the Desert World

Wonders of the Desert World PDF Author: Judith E. Rinard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description


Sand, Wind, and War

Sand, Wind, and War PDF Author: Ralph A. Bagnold
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816539499
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Records the work, travels, and adventures of one of the last of the great British explorers, a man who served in both world wars and carved out a special niche in science through his studies of desert sands.

Sand, Wind, and War

Sand, Wind, and War PDF Author: Ralph A. Bagnold
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816547734
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Sand, Wind, and War records the work, travels and adventures of one of the last of the great British explorers, a man who served in both world wars and carved out a special niche in science through his studies of desert sands. Ralph Alger Bagnold was born in 1896 into a military family and educated as an engineer. Posted to Egypt in 1926, he was one of a group of officers who adapted Model T Fords to desert travel and in 1932 made the first east-west crossing—6,000 miles—of the Libyan desert. Bagnold established such a name for himself that in World War II he was again posted to Egypt where he founded and trained the Long Range Desert Group that was to confound the German and Italian armies. Bagnold’s fascination with the desert included curiosity over the formation of dunes, and beginning in 1935 he conducted wind tunnel experiments with sand that led to the book The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes. Eventually, he was to see his findings called on by NASA to interpret data on the sands of Mars. He devoted subsequent research to particle flow in fluids, and also served as a consultant to Middle Eastern governments concerned with the interference of sand flow in oil drilling. Sand, Wind, and War is the life story of a man who not only helped shape events in one part of the world but also contributed to our understanding of it. It is a significant benchmark not only in the history of science, but also in the annals of adventure.

Desert Explorer

Desert Explorer PDF Author: Greg Pyers
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree Library
ISBN: 9781410905079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Takes an in-depth look at desert habitats and the animals, organisms, and plants that dwell there, as observed during an imaginary journey across the Sahara Desert.

Wheels Across the Desert

Wheels Across the Desert PDF Author: Andrew Goudie
Publisher: Silphium Press
ISBN: 9781900971072
Category : Automobile travel
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In between the search for the Poles, the climbing of Everest and the Space Race, the exploration of the Sahara - a huge swathe of terrain, the size of India - by motor car is one of the untold chapters in the story of twentieth-century exploration. Many people have become fascinated by this area since falling in love with the scenery of 'The English Patient'.

Sonoran Desert Explorers

Sonoran Desert Explorers PDF Author: Euan Oswald
Publisher: Blurb
ISBN: 9781714272846
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
The Sonoran Desert is a magical place. Maybe you're visiting or you live here already and don't even realize! Just outside the suburban neighborhoods of Arizona lives a thriving ecosystem full of diverse life and adventure. This field guide will help little explorers to learn more about the plants and animals and gain an appreciation for an amazing ecosystem just outside the city.

Sonoran Desert Explorers

Sonoran Desert Explorers PDF Author: Korina Oswald Euan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781714044498
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Sonoran Desert is a magical place. Maybe you're visiting or you live here already and didn't even realize! Just outside the suburban neighborhoods of Arizona lives a thriving ecosystem full of diverse life and adventure. This field guide will help little explorers learn more about plants and animals, and gain an appreciation for an amazing ecosystem just outside the city.