Taming the Arctic: The 20th Century Renown Explorer--Louise Arner Boyd - Softcover

Anema Ph.D., Durlynn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0881001589 ISBN 13: 9780881001587

Publisher: The National Writers Press, 2013

Synopsis

Louise Arner Boyd inherited millions of dollars when her parents died. Totally alone in the world, she wondered at thirty-two years old what she would do with her life. Travel abroad, community volunteering, social prestige -- these beckoned to her -- leading her first to try a socialite life of parties, events and travel abroad. She quickly was bored.Then, when she traveled to the far north Atlantic Ocean, she discovered her life goal. This frozen wilderness intrigued her. She found a purpose, deciding to explore the many facets of the Arctic. Her millions would be spent to increase knowledge of the Arctic through four expeditions. She planned each expedition, hired crew and scientists and became world renown for her contributions. As a gifted photographer she took thousands of photographs of the Eastern Greenland Coast in the 1930’s.Boyd, flambouyant yet practical, never was afraid to speak her mind, or get what she wanted. Her many awards from Scandinavian nations and her status as the Arctic expert for the U. S. military during World War II demonstrated her success.Explore her determination to succeed through this biography which takes the reader from the gold fields of Bodie, California to the frozen shores of Eastern and Western Greenland to the society pages of San Francisco. Boyd always was up for adventure -- as will be the reader traveling to a little-known place in the world.

About this title

About the Author:

Durlynn Anema, Ph. D., has written 16 books -- textbooks, biographies, self-help -- plus two newspaper columns and teaching communication at the University of the Pacific. She continues to volunteer as a family counselor and travel throughout the world when not writing.

Review:

Louise Boyd was a self-trained photographer of very great skill and large accomplishments. Her expeditions to little-known parts of East Greenland under the scientific sponsorship of the American Geographical Society are remarkable for several reasons. The goals of the voyages were in line with those of modern systems science in their attempt to achieve integrated understanding of cold environments. Expedition personnel used the latest technological advances available to them to map parts of Greenland with a previously unattained degree of accuracy and resolution. One of their goals, stated explicitly, was to provide benchmark data against which future changes could be registered. Operating under logistical demands and constraints almost unimaginable by many of today's researchers, the Boyd expeditions created high-quality maps and photographic records that, taken together, form an important milestone in the history of cryospheric research. --Frederick E. "Fritz" Nelson, emeritus professor of Geography, University of Deleware

Louise Arner Boyd led a double life: that of a privileged heiress and socialite among the elite of San Francisco and London and that of an adventuress with a passion for exploring and photographing the unknown frozen arctic with teams of scientists. At the same time that her contemporary Amelia Earhart was gaining attention for her daring flights, Louise was mounting expeditions to map and explore the inlets and glaciers above the Arctic Circle in far northern Greenland. Fearing that her discoveries would help the Nazis in World War II, she suppressed publication while she served as a high-level military consultant to the US government in Washington, DC. Too long overlooked, this pioneer heroine deserves recognition as the first woman to explore the Arctic. --Liz Konold, University of California, Davis School of Medicine

Two phases of Louise Boyd s life lie side by side on the scrapbook page; the Arctic explorer and the society woman. Louise Boyd was a paradox. She seemed to slip from one lifestyle to the other so easily. It has always been a puzzle how Louise Boyd accomplished the transition so gracefully. --Jocelyn Moss, Librarian, Marin History Museum

About this edition

• Publisher: The National Writers Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0881001589
• ISBN 13: 9780881001587
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 182