Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and Unlock the Secrets of Its Ice
Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and Unlock the Secrets of Its Ice
Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and Unlock the Secrets of Its Ice
Ebook352 pages5 hours

Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and Unlock the Secrets of Its Ice

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

A gripping history of the polar continent, from the great discoveries of the nineteenth century to modern scientific breakthroughs

Antarctica, the ice kingdom hosting the South Pole, looms large in the human imagination. The secrets of this vast frozen desert have long tempted explorers, but its brutal climate and glacial shores notoriously resist human intrusion. Land of Wondrous Cold tells a gripping story of the pioneering nineteenth-century voyages, when British, French, and American commanders raced to penetrate Antarctica’s glacial rim for unknown lands beyond. These intrepid Victorian explorers—James Ross, Dumont D’Urville, and Charles Wilkes—laid the foundation for our current understanding of Terra Australis Incognita.

Today, the white continent poses new challenges, as scientists race to uncover Earth’s climate history, which is recorded in the south polar ice and ocean floor, and to monitor the increasing instability of the Antarctic ice cap, which threatens to inundate coastal cities worldwide. Interweaving the breakthrough research of the modern Ocean Drilling Program with the dramatic discovery tales of its Victorian forerunners, Gillen D’Arcy Wood describes Antarctica’s role in a planetary drama of plate tectonics, climate change, and species evolution stretching back more than thirty million years. An original, multifaceted portrait of the polar continent emerges, illuminating our profound connection to Antarctica in its past, present, and future incarnations.

A deep-time history of monumental scale, Land of Wondrous Cold brings the remotest of worlds within close reach—an Antarctica vital to both planetary history and human fortunes.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 3, 2020
ISBN9780691201689
Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and Unlock the Secrets of Its Ice
Author

Gillen D’Arcy Wood

Gillen D'Arcy Wood is professor of English at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he directs the Sustainability Studies Initiative in the Humanities.

Related to Land of Wondrous Cold

Related ebooks

Science & Mathematics For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Land of Wondrous Cold

Rating: 3.6 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

5 ratings1 review

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    While the early exploration of Antarctica is not as exciting as the better known turn-of-the-century heroic age of Antarctic exploration, Wood does tell the story very well. I especially liked how he fit between chapters stories of modern scientific research about Antarctica and the global climate.

Book preview

Land of Wondrous Cold - Gillen D’Arcy Wood

$abook_preview_excerpt.html|YrIUl%S$ , {H"[`kF"їF|&#R}I=U3w*"mQS}t1|MTEx{QT\W6y|jy|zybޛW'7Wn Ooʷo[:3+{Sh6 R7EsoTʦ}-]4I&Bjhi YUJb&̪$_L62VI֦tU]6Ő#t7?|y\eomedӯe=s8.ܢ12sf]1碈eYX+捭&Y'ۙW^rʹ_x1Oo>@O/.?L w4ܸUq?~5g$WA%Peٜ\OAYl7K-ز]KqYY*E%:r6vX/ümZ*&qmڒijRS1._X9uQ?v>"rUΘZG,WfeԷ'V?* vvkU.T|m+28ifJ*wlDTu j2L*'uTH\~#d+7 Wgyǔ_8;pjn OJcA8X]DlvXƥ@+R'C.7'бim `5WgPԌ!kO+rbU0[fsBLsճZKvU8X n`(J'ڀy;)v%.ba@3E>:W^d]s=dIcqjƮv*F;V9N?߰Y~i&n+.֒%RhRz9E 5) Qpp((2Љg/+9mjS3zyhp+KW¢Ty XukSJ'}Gjަ4Jt@^M[H~sμ;<=8=9?|(obӄ6x쨦;G أ0@ ugKk`|aʲM坋gW]Z'4 =hdqHoV,pUa 饹8<=;>Pۜ$iU\Hy_>C1˻pOW?>z{z|szw u@5g(`d+t{(7ѱ}{E[Ti]'ƺq_8D-_%:04rpq1#bTRZ@`,Z 0y3{RWs[U캸ijj,Ek}o>3>6Ѻ=/zl/"=F "u`տBw7=nϗ>.J,h"lDaݜݾ4G/_8?88{Ns*H %,z!8em]}.Lb _ǽgĿ]E"& 00^U@itseqU?<%ttO4D$k' (mA,ni_RG_x3v_bE !_bW/wrc_^_ǻ`o|^/^u/%ܶ_ȣ9T$8Yp[OnQ " nAz80z جⅢӖ$^''hhƏ0$av,> l~iОEa az9gjhX;S*Db8ɅS W Ul+tJ:@_X`; |0Zs-sh͏6 ) L絹5]Μ-oYO*0ɭcs r @HfEDE˜1S.'\jcdokՋW+xifm-d9`UUTdih 5WIʄK;>0w G -LC!6K.4$Yd"9ր T. )$ D *\4]aT5~ N_o_nNtyZX?6p5bDAM{vP;'BD÷Ww`m}F?ޞsYB ;u[ 1Z}Mzbj. 8 gkhЯޞ]\|g4W0>r [O_OS_]~~8Dp;zxiKZ̾nj)=|FOoZ(Vg>|vO]eW.%N3p?òApOuȤu5mrJ>1)ǤyݜMϟ3蟪ݻyg ]=Fac@H4e?KEu0W`|/1l;);BS`o-wn ?|\oNO)OB>Tp#OK"@} 2c AM54)Pqc P4 ܍,rTY}ڍ5R2UKHdg{ /a)?HewGOMkꎤtTS?.r'¬ښ`)1g)2U~p!9Ǐ]_ޝ:9i `)^m=4b uB0;ÛO=vFZ|}?LWv!\#eG=0|Kj'c뢂I휴ahF >{%$Hًv5_Td;xpm{8 ?2~uAĤa1X:UR=.n,D9)C!3/,*?9^VpG[ tᬖCp59lTDz_zFRe&J39|^YE$?$[D]s;=ѢwS+T3wżoݢ )<!OIPL{8M%G(vv\<>g^ eW^> A>Պ.6S&8wǜskf bA݊a? ʒ'$ҦA?\!`QNck9=snϗ)v`t΂7邺B;9|KZ^QM٦أM¬p 4:~},f *A3r0-t5'[1c ,)R _'8씶Hs ˸4W~2-5$kˤ;zB`~wggEsW!/9K 㫫Xa^~.(Iͅ]{V uttW!hڔBV99da_?qI(2 t푖qc/^@иl8hHm9T&Й .57Vǂd˄*VIˏW&[&}N5HU˫;(¥8~9J".yu*5LcHH%Z!fY橋Y&jSi_>`4]Fw߃*6"k,-d&nLsOqx%a+_DH*-#-6a1a2O\u7vG(P=ڄs-2F=Ȼ=Q}ٰ 2O Z)x+8-(S@w zisn6 J-C۹fbFkMQXLj ,4#λ]G"ĆV}+`R9[h.svɢANى\6NRw,>Xm!ry},Jt=gOSUMc94*H9b+lGe鞲QEc,M~'ġ./]ITgLJs$ĈMMdת4i  K%S㮗ݭgFV9wigI^fРhbl $U6+#[2J`|L zvH`9&0L>~=p{'w?5@K$U;4ijr?sĢPf $&^ɓvN?T٦YXWk8{T&ն8ke(3A?!|$تHjcw}αFp)^:rc4v^&b6ډv#)l Q("Qe_= n7)ĄFvy `o0MMaӸ#l]K_lL4*z{k|[9;O7ǵYڣ&;AhP/2jR`i[!W7WkգLN, i |ܷ>'I Ҍzmi/En_pgnNjt+t++'4˃Ɲ*`Uʴmp`pxy}iZy?GKb F45z8&B B7vi3~/ZZ(z!t=hWm*|OLǦү\MB]ZisÂ0(h;-WGٟ_FU&!c>R^lI߭m@ajSҥ%uJDz@0]N;WoQ@+NqYǺ _k{q*, ,YPohIuS>eZ:f6~w)uhvW) .T/JY@e!IoKO\I1j~cmdC0OH]|dԀ{a{Tcj|[n{UYmCMatQI6_?4ik9 0PF^4^˃Qd'_=9=g3Včiʬ6?Թm'ʦ;=*M=cLM:ʅb8Bv*I_ac"@B+j,@6zs3oӭ[^Z:LUtxGCm鴯{.vr௑y.H`2hj+U|I>ԇνK2s3 ng`o\vB3"H=OڽZO$SDaV7'^,a!%gZ4W2heBPVk ^$(۶OAE/z4S@;5fD'Yh;E Y:nIJzǰ^cUF$@N]h9ؕ^I9$SS< !>gŮvcB{b db oF(5by ٯOzvRx:7kthTV ɦҍgVבM0Qמ?;I݇W:13klmm/X^R0|ɪS|{vY[ ?SֶOF/ߘ# 񣦐7򫵆~r8-f0;R(` * x3^gU^[`ֽT,䛠ձCn%CCzگ../d< J}(ou'Ck] "$2ꈼWèJ{AYNx>]]U"L<3i9 *hY<D;{mʶ)Knz3@~wgyH|K/F| bŭ)`sweQzj)_B|Oڹч'C/ՌC)x ؚA -d$eWRn$fG R+Dl\kfKX|̒_[JBI"w+n'#3As;Q|TF@ 6%18J;|ǻ& OԘf^J>;bPLtnN&(Ij~VkјU-"(&sqˍXRxB&NA5_vvՀoyM Wd%Ay5Ҫ*U"htL뉖3O :Hpfrglv撩Usr gIn?O4zX1OmTCzCL½&BR[wqb\ѕJ\0b H*UY뺜rM u R8`}9 L6 ~}2IkUTQyJ}Kՙ'x\6`@d70=' "3J\Wm&U! 59+m%6yg 2sʙI48h5M 2U k?YNVHWis[jr%~cW>#2Z%r>b˃Y'$Xhj!]Ͷ`l,PQKq2wUN^0Wi ^`8d)]nߑTgwJ!*ƾU_MuVM0. {+>WгXUgji ֗vg@ﴠdyb3TɯjoBE`+i!j.~z'2-׻P&hF ^!0ɻoeH3>$Xq+WS%I`֏-% u R_-_np`&D4cď%% ĺYUO E?7h8PUV` +~D垴IBTJ?4c]  Ub$fSOI~;3j\Oi@p٨5U}oXvu$Q9+^NpaV>$$&^ 5 MچY$Um$yo뢙6'$d58 Jm"w-g2SBҝau;N0-@DsfL:0?p9\+eVT۔KfŚ(p`Xj_w-&xL>:Si%L_J_-4ZHp8)~_ix?M-۞K5nIX)ytRdӱ㫃9w]y.XeqնxkRY$偅DP8 ïu&#@5J;(>85֦gMn3zzcWM*j3u8q*x7/_k+A\GA '?)>H<4Zm$SתYuQ_]Z[ֹUJ%Z2C[tf3XIA@=15lbj,zjXZ',[C줶݀Lyr|O]6/>BR6/רDC7A[7ÂRcPNz`;%z:{ՕP#gD1]2ʐh@;RGd@j ѱIxʵ:$D+tٖuJSTrk64^;ua=(^I\
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1