Dispatches from Continent Seven: An Anthology of Antarctic Science - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1927249058 ISBN 13: 9781927249055

Publisher: Awa Press, 2016

Synopsis

"To me, the hills are a landscape of brown on brown: hip-high, wind-blasted boulders ... To Adam, they are clues to millions of years of history." Since British explorer James Cook first circumnavigated Antarctica in the late eighteenth century, the white continent has exerted a powerful attraction. There is no permanent human habitation in this ice-bound wilderness, and no mercy from the raw, relentless elements, yet for nearly 200 years explorers and scientists from around the world have been drawn to work and sometimes risk their lives here. This landmark anthology brilliantly reveals the numerous scientific discoveries that have been made, from how sea creatures survive in the freezing waters, to the continent’s extraordinary proliferation of meteorites, and the startling revelations of fossils, which show Antarctica was once covered in luxuriant forests teeming with creatures. More than an anthology, this book is a thrilling journey through time as explorers and scientists painstakingly unravel the profound mysteries of Earth’s last great wilderness.

About this title

About the Author:

Rebecca Priestley is a science writer and historian from Wellington, New Zealand where she works as a senior lecturer in the Science in Society group at Victoria University of Wellington. Her first book, an edited anthology called The Awa Book of New Zealand Science, won the Royal Society of New Zealand 2009 Science Book Prize. Her second book, Atoms, Dinosaurs & DNA, co-authored with Veronika Meduna, won the LIANZA Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction. Her next book, Mad on Radium: New Zealand in the Atomic Age, was based on Rebecca's PhD research into New Zealand's nuclear and radiation history. Rebecca teaches history of science, science communication, and creative science writing and also writes a regular science column for the New Zealand Listener, in which she explores contemporary and historical scientific issues, reports from scientific field trips, and responds to readers' questions.

Review:

“This wonderful collection of science writing will make you see Antarctica as never before.” —Matt Vance, author, Ocean Notorious 

“A skilful and thoughtful compilation . . . Antarctica speaks to us with a message of both endurance and vulnerability.” —David Carlson, director, World Climate Research Programme 

“Compelling reading — from earliest explorers to contemporary Antarctic scientists.” —Professor Julian Dowdeswell, director, Scott Polar Research Institute

"This is an excellently browsable bedside book . . . [Rebecca Priestley] is in an excellent position to mediate between scientists and educated non-scientists." —Nicholas Reid, reidsreader.blogspot.co.nz

“A really good read for anyone interested in history, the heroic exploration of the early days, and science of course . . . and for anyone fascinated by that magical, enigmatic continent that is Antarctica.” —Vanda Symon, Radio New Zealand

"After reading Priestley's remarkable anthology, people will feel very differently about the great, white, southern continent." —Julia Millen, NZ Books Quarterly Review

"A wonderful, sumptuous book which reminds us what an utterly extraordinary planet we find ourselves on." — Marcus Chown, award-winning science writer, journalist and broadcaster

About this edition

• Publisher: Awa Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1927249058
• ISBN 13: 9781927249055
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 456
• Editor: Priestley Rebecca