Author: Sara Wheeler
Publisher: Modern Library
ISBN: 080415242X
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 385
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Book Description
It is the coldest, windiest, driest place on earth, an icy desert of unearthly beauty and stubborn impenetrability. For centuries, Antarctica has captured the imagination of our greatest scientists and explorers, lingering in the spirit long after their return. Shackleton called it "the last great journey"; for Apsley Cherry-Garrard it was the worst journey in the world. This is a book about the call of the wild and the response of the spirit to a country that exists perhaps most vividly in the mind. Sara Wheeler spent seven months in Antarctica, living with its scientists and dreamers. No book is more true to the spirit of that continent--beguiling, enchanted and vast beyond the furthest reaches of our imagination. Chosen by Beryl Bainbridge and John Major as one of the best books of the year, recommended by the editors of Entertainment Weekly and the Chicago Tribune, one of the Seattle Times's top ten travel books of the year, Terra Incognita is a classic of polar literature.
Author: Stephen J. Pyne
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295805234
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 466
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Book Description
“The Ice is a compilation of more about ice than you knew you wanted to know, yet sheer compelling significance holds attention page by page. . . . Pyne conveys a view of Antarctica that interweaves physical science with humanistic inquiry and perception. His audacity as well as his presentation warrant admiration, for the implications of The Ice are vast.”—New York Times Book Review
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780439220033
Category : Antarctica
Languages : en
Pages : 148
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Book Description
Walter Dean Myers presents a thrilling record of Antarctica and the expedition parties that have uncovered the frozen continent throughout history. Walter Dean Myers brings the dramatic race to the South Pole to life in Antarctica, tracking the explorers of the South Pole - including James Cook, Ernest Shackleton, and Richard Evelyn Bird - and the dangers they encountered there, as well as their contributions to science. The heroism and adventure - and sometimes the ultimate failure - of the expeditions are depicted in Myers's powerful prose, and through the photos, maps, and illustrations that complement the text.
Author: Alfred Lansing
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465058795
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 412
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Book Description
Experience “one of the best adventure books ever written” (Wall Street Journal) in this New York Times bestseller: the harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole. In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. In January 1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice and only a day's sail short of its destination, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic's heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization. In Endurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton's fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.
Author: Kalman Dubov
Publisher: Kalman Dubov
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 208
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Book Description
The continent of Antarctica, shrouded in mist, ice and frightful weather, was a land of mystery for millennia. Ancient and medieval cartographers and scientists pondered its reality, considering the South Pole at the extreme of Earth, the counterpart of the North Pole. But it was only in the 17th and 18th centuries that brave captains, piloting tiny ships (by today's standards) began plying these waters. The myth of Terra Australis was soon debunked as the misty veil of ice and cold yielded its secrets. Soon, many explorers set themselves the task of mastering this secret and unknown land. The story of such exploration is a fascinating tale: of those who braved the ice and cold; those who living to tell the tale of their exploits; and those who did not. Today, waters, seas, mountains and valleys are known by these hardy men and their feats of bravery. The tale of exploration is also coupled with greed, spurred by the advance of territorial claims over land and sea. In this regard, the British were foremost in this quest. They were only halted by the adoption of the Antarctic Treaty System, an international agreement that preserves and protects Antarctica from every mercantile endeavor -- at least until until 2048. There are no human settlements on Antarctica, save for research stations as scientist-explorers further our collective understanding of the continent, its flora and fauna, its many water animals that come here and to understand the story hidden beneath hundreds of feet of solid ice. Of greatest importance is the effect this continent has on the rest of the globe, with its teeming billions and ecological effect the world has on this distant land. This review discusses the explorers who first mapped the land and its waters, who navigated these channels and so, leading to the wider discovery of the continent itself. The expansion of British interests in Antarctica was also spurred by the claim over the Falklands Islands, resulting in the 1982 conflict between Britain and Argentina. The Argentine invasion was repelled by British forces, though Argentina continues to claim sovereignty over the islands. For a time, Britain declared sovereignty from the Falklands to the South Pole, with overlapping claims from other countries. None of these sovereignty claims however, are recognized under the Antarctic Treaty. Of special interest is the science applied to the continent, which requires specialized training and expertise. I review some of the science, appreciating the dedication and determination of the men and women to understand this icy continent. Speaking of women, I was surprised to learn that women were forbidden from participating in exploration and scientific efforts based on nothing more than machismo - men who decided this was no place for women. The first women who pioneered and came to Antarctica faced a host of male-dominated and demeaning attitudes until these attitudes changed. I also explore a Jewish conundrum - how to visit Antarctica, either during its long summer or its dark winter and remain true to Jewish tradition. That tradition mandates following laws that are time-sensitive by the rhythm of day and night, which do not apply in this remote region. Ancient precedent is used to apply a modicum of reality to this remote region. I then discuss my two visits to the continent, once about Holland America's Prinsendam, and the second aboard the Amsterdam. While both journeys were memorable, the second voyage was overshadowed by Covid-19. In fact, the latter journey ended in late March, just two months later, when all passengers were required to disembark in Perth Australia and had to immediately return home. Unless one is a research scientist, travel to Antarctica is commonly by cruise ship. Even then, the Antarctic mainland is not seen. Instead, the ship will visit various points in the Antarctic Peninsula, a location that is closer to Ushuaia, Argentina or Punta Arenas, Chile. These locations are Fin del Mundo - the end of the earth, the last human habitation before reaching the Antarctic land mass. My visits were to the Peninsula, with each trip lasting just four and one half days. Combined, these nine days remain memorable for the uniqueness as for their stark color extremes. White and dark predominates here with few other colors marring the landscape. If ever I had a 'bucket list', these nine days filled the void of the only landmass on earth where extremes of ice and snow, of dark-colored penguins, whales and seals contrasted with the icebergs and high granite peaks atop snow-encrusted mountains. I remain grateful for this incredible opportunity to visit this remote land, cocooned aboard a large and warm vessel, with fellow passengers seeking the see this remote and distant land. I hope this review does justice to the beauty and cold silence of this remote land.
Author: Julie Haydon
Publisher: Nelson Thornes
ISBN: 9781869614881
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 38
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Book Description
Designed to be used by children in their first six months of school PM Starters One and Two
Author: Liv Arnesen
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452961018
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 261
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Book Description
The extraordinary story of the first two women to cross Antarctica The fascinating chronicle of Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft’s dramatic journey as the first two women to cross Antarctica, No Horizon Is So Far follows the explorers from the planning of their expedition through their brutal trek from the Norwegian sector all the way to McMurdo Station as they walked, skied, and ice-sailed for almost three months in temperatures reaching as low as -35°F, all while towing their 250-pound supply sledges across 1,700 miles of ice full of dangerous crevasses. Through website transmissions and satellite phone calls, Ann and Liv, two former schoolteachers, were able to broadcast their expedition to more than three million students in sixty-five countries to teach geography, science, and the importance of following your dreams.
Author: Peter Matthiessen
Publisher: National Geographic Society
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
"Matthiessen chronicles two voyages into the frozen seas that surround a landmass larger than the continental United States, most of it buried under eternal snow and ice as much as three miles deep. Ninety percent of the world's fresh water is locked in this immense ice cap, a remote region profoundly important to our environment. The author addresses the subject with authority and passion, discussing everything from global warming and the ozone layer to the vital role of krill, the teeming crustacean that is the cornerstone of the marine food chain." "Nature lovers - birders especially - will be fascinated by descriptions of more than half of the penguin species and an astonishing array of seabirds, from tiny storm-petrels to magnificent albatrosses, which may soar for years without alighting on land; here too are close encounters with whales, leopard seals, and elephant seals, and elusive creatures such as the oceanic orca. There are also remarkable descriptions of the seldom seen polar rookeries where thousands of emperor penguins stand motionless for months at a time, brooding their giant eggs through the long, cold darkness of Antarctic winter."--BOOK JACKET.
Author: Roland Huntford
Publisher: Modern Library
ISBN: 030743236X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 626
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Book Description
Author: Roald Amundsen
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 543
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Book Description
The South Pole is a book by Roald Amundsen and it represents an interesting first-hand account of the Norwegian expedition's successful attempt to reach the South Pole in 1911. Amundsen spends a great deal of time talking about logistics and placing of depots in preparation for his polar attempt all the way from the preparation leading up to the initial sea voyage, the voyage itself and then the establishing of a camp at the Antarctic. Although they were lucky with the weather, and Amundsen attributed the success of the expedition to "good luck", it is obvious that the Norwegian expedition was well prepared and ready for the troubles ahead; the equipment, the sledges with well-trained dogs, the supply depots with seal meat at regular intervals along the route, the sunglasses to avoid snow blindness; it was all thought of in advance.