Antarctica Exploring The Extreme

The danger and excitement of Antarctic exploration from the earliest sea voyages through the 20th-century overland expeditions racing to the South Pole.

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.

There are only few human beings who can adapt, survive and thrive in the coldest regions on earth. And below a certain temperature, death is inevitable. Sir Ranulph Fiennes has spent much of his life exploring and working in conditions of extreme cold. The loss of many of his fingers to frostbite is a testament to the horrors man is exposed to at such perilous temperatures. With the many adventures he has led over the past 40 years, testing his limits of endurance to the maximum, he deservedly holds the title of 'the world's greatest explorer'. Despite our technological advances, the Arctic, the Antarctic and the highest mountains on earth, remain some of the most dangerous and unexplored areas of the world. This remarkable book reveals the chequered history of man's attempts to discover and understand these remote areas of the planet, from the early voyages of discovery of Cook, Ross, Weddell, Amundsen, Shackleton and Franklin to Sir Ranulph's own extraordinary feats; from his adventuring apprenticeship on the Greenland Ice Cap, to masterminding over the past five years the first crossing of the Antarctic during winter, where temperatures regularly plummeted to minus 92ºC. Both historically questioning and intensely personal, Cold is a celebration of a life dedicated to researching and exploring some of the most hostile and brutally cold places on earth.

Thought Antarctica was only for the tough and the strong-willed? Turns out it was also for the dumb and luckless as well. Discover the great Heroic Era of Antarctica Exploration and the extreme measures some explorers went to be first at something. Anything! Who was the first to spend an unplanned winter in Antarctica? Who was the first to play bagpipes there? Did Ernest Shackleton's brother really get arrested for stealing the Irish Crown jewels? What did Amundsen leave in the tent at the South Pole for Robert Falcon Scott. This book details the greats and the not-so greats, looking at the truly Horrible and Heroic History of Antarctic Exploration.

During the long twentieth century, explorers went in unprecedented numbers to the hottest, coldest, and highest points on the globe. Taking us from the Himalaya to Antarctica and beyond, Higher and Colder presents the first history of extreme physiology, the study of the human body at its physical limits. Each chapter explores a seminal question in the history of science, while also showing how the apparently exotic locations and experiments contributed to broader political and social shifts in twentieth-century scientific thinking. Unlike most books on modern biomedicine, Higher and Colder focuses on fieldwork, expeditions, and exploration, and in doing so provides a welcome alternative to laboratory-dominated accounts of the history of modern life sciences. Though centered on male-dominated practices—science and exploration—it recovers the stories of women’s contributions that were sometimes accidentally, and sometimes deliberately, erased. Engaging and provocative, this book is a history of the scientists and physiologists who face challenges that are physically demanding, frequently dangerous, and sometimes fatal, in the interest of advancing modern science and pushing the boundaries of human ability.

Describes the continent of Antarctica, its geographical features, visitors, and animals.

Antarctica -- Life-and-death decisions -- the early 1900's. How Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen and Mawson risked it all in their quest for the South Pole and beyond, and what we can learn from their situations to improve our modern-day decision making.

Photographs and descriptive text explore Antarctica's terrain, its discovery and exploration, polar wildlife, and efforts to protect the continent's distinctive ecosystems

Between 1750 and 1920 over 15,000 people visited Antarctica. Despite such a large number the historiography has ignored all but a few celebrated explorers. Maddison presents a study of Antarctic exploration, telling the story of these forgotten facilitators, he argues that Antarctic exploration can be seen as an offshoot of European colonialism.

The words of the great explorers of Antarctica--James Cook, Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen and Richard Byrd--are gathered together in this gripping narrative history of the race to reach the South Pole.