Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent and informative read, November 6, 2002
Scientists are becoming the new explorers and this book takes that point of view. In the same way that the photographer Hurley was taken aboard the Endurance to chronicle their achievement to the Antarctic in 1914, Grady is brought along on this trip to chronicle the exploration and discovery of the effects of global warming on the Arctic--the seeming linchpin of the climate change debate. If global warming is happening, it is happening here. Because scientists aren't always the best writers, they bring along Grady because of his experience in writing science and communicating to a larger audience. They don't want their discovery to go unheard, slipped into a report on some bureaucrat's desk. They want you and me to know so that we can make choices. Here's the evidence, Grady says, and--while we're at it, because I know you might like the adventure--here's the story, complete with characters, action and suspense. He also gives the reader--as the modern day exploration happens--a short history of Arctic exploration, global warming, and Arctic travel. I found myself making notes of all the original works he mentions, so I could read them later in their completed form. Deftly woven so that the reader becomes educated and enthralled, The Quiet Limit of the World is no ordinary travel adventure. This adventure has consequences for everyone, and Grady makes sure you are taken along for the ride.
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Quiet Disappointment, June 6, 1999
By A Customer
Mr. Grady blends Arctic history with the historic 1994 Arctic Ocean Section Expedition. However, in addition to the flaws in his science, Mr. Grady also got much wrong about icebreaking and shipboard operations -- in addition to the vetting by a scientist, as mentioned in ecpielou's comments, the book needed a vetting by someone who knew icebreaking and shipboard life. Given the number and scope of the science and icebreaking errors, one has to wonder about the accuracy of his historical references as well. Some examples: he makes the concept of icebreakers being designed to ride up on top of the ice to break it downwards with the ship's weight sound like it's relatively new when icebreakers on the Great Lakes have been designed to work this way since 1900. Information about the fuel capacity of the Louis is off by an order of magnitude, a fact easily verified by a glance at the Canadian Coast Guard's website on the Louis S. St-Laurent (the tonnage of the fuel Mr. Grady reports exceeds the total displacement of the Louis!). Finally, he states that the Captain of Polar Sea was "in his early 60s" -- in actuality, Captain Brigham was, and looked, fifteen years younger. This is too bad -- I also was a participant in this historic expedition and it deserves an accurate rendering. Unfortunately, this book is not it.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasant travel book, abysmal "science", March 31, 1999
By A Customer
The book should have been vetted by a scientist before publication. It's inexcusable to spread misinformation such as this: "Phytoplankton produces chlorophyll by photosynthesis." And "the troposphere,.., 10 to 15 kilometres above the earth's surface." And other blunders equally bad. The only way to dispose of the book is to shred it, I wouldn't want to give it away for fear of misleading unsuspecting readers.
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