Customer Reviews

Riddle of the Ice: A Scientific Adventure into the Arctic

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There's just not that much here. As a travelogue, Arms does not have a whole lot to say, either about sailing or about the places he visits. It's not clear why he took the trip at all -- some sort of scientific investigation -- other than to see Greenland. If you want to read about a visit to the coast of Greenland and Labrador, I would recommend Rowing_To_Latitude, by a woman (whose name eludes me) about rowing these and other coasts. As for the science in Arms' book, there's not enough of that to satisfy, either. He's talked to some interesting people with interesting research, but there's about enough there to fill a long magazine article. He uses the device of jumping back and forth from the sailing trip to his discussions with scientists, but this feels forced, and eventually calls attention to the fact that his trip doesn't seem to advance the science at all. As another reviewer noted, his characterization of his fellow travelers makes them seem one-dimensional, at best, and if you read the afterword you'll see that there were two other people on board -- including his wife -- whom he omitted altogether.

While researching for an environmental book, we had the great good fortune to come across Myron Arm's wonderful story of the mysteries of sea and ice. In lovely, leisurely prose, Arms takes the reader to the source of one of nature's greatest happenings: the unending collision between the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and the mad southerly migration of Arctic ice. This epic rumination makes it incontestably clear that much of Earth's climate is driven by the two frozen chunks of ice at the Northern and Southern poles--both of which are melting at an astonishing rate. For me, the unstated question Arms leaves us with is, "So what happens when, within a hundred years or so, the ice sheets have melted so much that they can no longer counterbalance our furiously warming Earth?" As a planet, we better figure that out very soon.

A fascinating science book - I learned so much from this book about climatology and how ice in the arctic can affect my life on the beaches of Florida! I wonder what has been added to the theories the author presents since it was written, but this is a tremendous starting point for anyone interested in global climate change. I cannot give it enough stars! It needs ten, not five. I started to re-read it as soon as I finished it because I want to make sure I remember the important parts.

I mean like, before the ocean covers my home when the polar caps melt...

Like the setting, like the narrative, like the tone but with a small sigh for little character development, I like and respect altogether Myron Arm's balance when addressing complex natural events in Riddle of the Ice. Not a traditional saga of the sea but an intellectual thinking-out-loud wrrestling match, his struggle is to understand. Riddle of the Ice bears his personal witness not so much to scenes of physical grandeur in Greenland and Labrador, as to "scenes" of professional climatologists hard at work. Arms appreciates their sophistication and their sincerity, their methods and models, their numbers and equations, their opinions and openness, their current knowledge and yet awe at the rocky field of uknowns beyond. Arms is himself a question mark but a wise question mark, for his alliances are with individuals whose work is aimed at "getting it right." So, discard some editorial mistakes; put aside frustration at the lack of traditional adventures; never mind incomplete descriptions of the countryside and its peoples; don't read for political commentary; simply enjoy his gift. Riddle of the Ice powerfully quickens our interest to understand global climate changes underway, to approach change humbly with a tool kit that asserts we are self-conscious after all, the tool kit of science.

It's probably not easy to get the average person interested in the science of large ice formations, so in this book author Myron Arms tries to sneak his lectures in.

"Riddle of the Ice" is built around Arms' 1994 sailing voyage along the eastern coast of Canada and the western coast of Greenland. It is, he makes clear, an enchanting region featuring spectacular glaciers and huge icebergs, and just enough storms to keep a small sailing crew on edge. But the trip seems to be only a ploy to draw you in. What Arms ACTUALLY wants to talk about is the changing patterns of ice in the north Atlantic region, so he repeatedly interrupts the sailing narrative to talk about science.

Arms mean well - he wants us all to think more about the human role in global climate change - but you'd have to be REALLY interested in ice to stay with his long and winding discussions of such gripping concepts as the "side channel export hypothesis," "Bond-Heinrich cycles," and the "Great Salinity Anomaly." He tries to present the topic as something of a murder mystery, but he comes to no resolution or solid conclusions other than the acknowledgment that it's a really complex subject. (Also, since I read this book 14 years after it was published, I couldn't help thinking that some of the science in the book has been superseded by later research.)

I did enjoy Arms' description of the sailing trip, since I wasn't familiar with the geography of this area beforehand. And Arms' contentious relationship with a young crew member named Blue, who chides the author for not being environmentally pure enough, spices up the story. But the hybrid nature of the book falls short.

If you're interested eastern Canada and Greenland, two very good books are the "The Last Gentleman Adventurer: Coming of Age in the Arctic" by Edward Beauclerk Maurice and "Two Against the Ice" by Ejnar Mikkelsen

This book wasn't exactly what I expected, but I did quite enjoy it.

This book attempts to combine the sailing experience genre and scientific research in one and unfortunatley is somewhat lacking in both. By all appearances the author wanted to find a reason to do a sailing trip to the ice and basically just look around. Under the pretense of "research" they sail reasonably uneventfully up and back past the arctic circle. There is a lot of historical research presented, some of which is quite interesting but presented far too repetisiously. I could not count how many times the phrase "Great Conveylor Belt" was used. The author wanted to show how humans are negatively affecting the environment and the ice flows as evidence thereof. Unfortunatly, from his represenation of the actual scientists he quotes, it appears there is certainly no consensus about the long term greenhouse gas affects. The sailing experience as written did have some interesting moments and as one who likes these stories I could "get into" it. Nevertheless there are far better books such as "My Old Man and the Sea" for pure sailing journey enjoyment. Another factor which dulled the sailing story was the fact that they seemed to run under motor a good deal of the time. That is not what sailing is about. It certainly detracts from the adventure and risks associated with an open ocean voyage. In any event, the book has some merit for those truly sailing addicted types but might not work for most.

The author presents in diary format a tale about traveling to the Artic to take scientific and non-scientific observations on the ocean. His travel to the artic is intended to discover why the climate may be changing over a short period of time. He cites many changes in the behavior of the climate of the region up to and including the seas to the west of Greenland through direct observation and local people's stories. He delves into material about Ocean Circulation, Ocean-Climate interaction, Sea Ice and most importantly how the Northern Atlantic just might control the world's climate. His narrative includes interesting comments about the interation of the crew aboard a 50' sailboat. The only drawback to the book may be his constant insistance of global warming with only cursory evidence. His thoughts about this topic leave no question as to his position. On the whole, however, it is a very good thought provoking book that keeps the reader's attention. It is an excellent book for any person interested in Meteorology and Oceanography. I have to say that this is a very thought provoking book.

I loved it ! But then again, I am a sailor and interested in "ice" and "arctic". But this book is more: for anyone who wants to know about the doings of our Earth's climate , - so much in recent focus through "El Nino" and "Global Warming" reports - this book will serve as a starting point. It opens up understanding of the Global Climate Machine to the Non-Scientist. It has done so for me: And together with the book, you may use the new medium "Internet" to deepen your knowledge about such climatic keyplayers as the "North Atlantic Oszillation" or the "Bond-Heinrich" Events of the past, and future to come. For me this book was an informative and productive adventure, both into the Labrador and Greenland Seas and into the Global Climate !!! I enjoyed it many long evenings with my lap-top at my side. - Des -

Myron Arms' "Riddle of the Ice" includes a collection of the most current theories used to try to explain the creation, movement, and distribution of ice in the Arctic, and not much else. For those looking for an adventure story, look elsewhere. If you're interested in the personal lives of the crew and the skipper, what you'll find is Arms' reflections on his own caustic nature and a few references to his encounters with shipmate "Blue," which convieniently lend Arms an avenue, as most of the rest of his accounts of contact with the shipmates do,to show the reader how, while he's gruff and abrasive, his propensity for always being right usually is justified in the end. As for the science behind "Riddle of the Ice," Arms left it up to the real scientists, providing the reader with a decent book report at best.