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An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science by [Edward J. Larson]

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Edward J. Larson

An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science Kindle Edition

by Edward J. Larson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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A Pulitzer Prize–winning author examines South Pole expeditions, “wrapping the science in plenty of dangerous drama to keep readers engaged” (Booklist).

An Empire of Ice presents a fascinating new take on Antarctic exploration—placing the famed voyages of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, his British rivals Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton, and others in a larger scientific, social, and geopolitical context.

Recounting the Antarctic expeditions of the early twentieth century, the author reveals the British efforts for what they actually were: massive scientific enterprises in which reaching the South Pole was but a spectacular sideshow. By focusing on the larger purpose of these legendary adventures, Edward J. Larson deepens our appreciation of the explorers’ achievements, shares little-known stories, and shows what the Heroic Age of Antarctic discovery was really about.

“Rather than recounting the story of the race to the pole chronologically, Larson concentrates on various scientific disciplines (like meteorology, glaciology and paleontology) and elucidates the advances made by the polar explorers . . . Covers a lot of ground—science, politics, history, adventure.” —The New York Times Book Review

Print length

360 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

May 31, 2011
File size

4310 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Larson succeeds in [his] approach to the popular subject of polar exploration by wrapping the science in plenty of dangerous drama to keep readers engaged." ---Booklist --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Edward J. Larson is a professor of history and law at Pepperdine University and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion and several other books.

John Allen Nelson's critically acclaimed roles on television's 24 and Vanished are among the highlights of his twenty-five-plus years as an actor, screenwriter, and film producer. As a narrator, he won an AudioFile Earphones Award for his reading of Zoo Story by Thomas French. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0054WX8OY
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press (May 31, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 31, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4310 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 360 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #778,542 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #60 in History of Arctic & Antarctica
- #371 in Arctic & Antarctica History
- #402 in Expeditions & Discoveries World History (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 56 ratings

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Edward J. Larson

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Edward J. Larson is the author of seven books and the recipient of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in History for his book Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. His other books include Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory; Evolution's Workshop; God and Science on the Galapagos Islands; and Trial and Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution. Larson has also written over one hundred articles, most of which address topics of law, science, or politics from an historical perspective, which have appeared in such varied journals as The Atlantic, Nature, Scientific American, The Nation, The Wilson Quarterly, and Virginia Law Review. He is a professor of history and law at Pepperdine University and lives in Georgia and California.

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Wild Ideas

Digs Deep Into An Important Age of Antarctic Exploration

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 8, 2018

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Great information about the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. Digs into the culture and politics as well as the science that was behind the race to the south pole. However, the way it is organized led to some confusion and redundancy. Very hard to keep the expeditions, and their order, straight.

One person found this helpful

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Roger Dean

An amazing story by an amazing author!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 13, 2014

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An amazing story, made even more so by the talent of the author. I had the pleasure of meeting him on a recent cruise to Antarctica, and that was what persuaded me to download the book ( while on the ship). I am so glad that I did.

2 people found this helpful

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A reader from California

Not Quite What I Expected

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 25, 2011

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I have always been fascinated by Antarctica, and was lucky enough to be able to visit there for three weeks some years ago, so I was looking forward to reading this book.

When I first read the reviews and blurbs, I thought the book was going to be an exploration of the leadership skills and styles of men like Scott and Shackleton. There was some of that, but mostly the book is an account of the scientific discoveries, told in excruciating detail.

Overall, their discoveries were interesting, but for me, reading 300 pages worth of the composition of icebergs vs. glaciers vs. ice caps vs. ice sheets, plus the difference between sandstone, basalt and other rocks, is a bit too much. My eyes started to glaze over.

The other problem, and this is not really Larson's fault, is that all the expeditions started to run together in my mind. They all had a hard time sledging, faced horrible weather conditions and ran out of food. It was difficult to tell them apart. I did not get a good sense of what the leaders did or did not do to impact the success or failure of each trip.

My recommendation is to read a book on Shackleton's Endurance mission, or his own book "South". Those will provide fascinating details about how the men survived, Shackleton's leadership style, etc., and are so much better than this book in invoking what these men endured from a personal standpoint. Unless you are a glaciologist or geologist, you will find this book very slow going, and in some cases, deadly dull.

20 people found this helpful

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Tim1965

Dense and poorly mapped

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 13, 2013

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If you are looking for a work which depicts the great, tragic journeys of Scott, Shackleton, and Amundsen to find the South Pole -- look somewhere else. If you want a work which depicts, in minute detail, every single expedition made to the Antarctic by Scott, Shackleton, and others -- you will find it here. The problem is that the book contains exceptionally poor maps, and disturbingly few of those. Images, took, are almost lacking. Readers not intimately familiar with the Antarctic will find themselves quickly lost.

While the writing is passable and the level of factual detail extremely good, Larson's primary failing is in his ability to craft an interesting narrative. The prose is so dry that even someone very excited about the subject matter will find him or her self struggling to get through it. It makes it difficult to tell tragedy from success, and tedium from excitement.

6 people found this helpful

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tortiecat

shackleton

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 8, 2011

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MY wife's father was Bill Shackleton;
and her name is Frances Shackleton Brissman.
So we were interested in the many details
of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his historic search
to reach the south pole. He got nearly to 80
or so miles of it. The book is very detailed
and scientific and we skipped much of it.

3 people found this helpful

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specialK

Almost as good as Huntsford

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2011

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The Larson book is good, and I am enjoyed reading it. It provides interesting insights into the way European science and explorers interacted. In particular the contrast between the Geographical Society and the Philosophical Society. Having some experience with granting agencies and current state of science funding, this book provides nice historical background. The point of this book seems to be to present a slightly different point of view on the balance between finding the pole and science than that presented by Roland Huntsford in his books. The interested reader should compare this book to those, and go from there. The book isn't as compelling a read as the 'straight' explorer stories, but it is still good.

9 people found this helpful

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Susan from Colorado

meticulous and interesting

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 13, 2015

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Excellent discussions of broad ranging topics. Puts a fresh perspective on just about every chapter, placing the expeditions in the modern context of what was learned.

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Bob H

The Brits - Cold as Ice

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 23, 2015

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Too much ice and empire and not enough interest. The growth of the British empire in cold climates - not the most thrilling tome I have ever read but interesting.

One person found this helpful

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Marc Ranger

Dry technical accounts

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 20, 2011

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I knew beforehand that I would be reading about "technical" accounts regarding Antarctica "Heroic" exploration period. It's not that the author is not knowledgable, but extensive history about embryos or Darwinism wasn't what I was looking for.

Every student of Antarctica's exploration knows that all British attemps at the South Pole was surrounded or pursued with extensive science programs. In fact, the gathering of data would save face if the true goal of the effort, standing at the South Pole, would fail. In that regard, Larson's account is a little too dry for my taste.

However, I did learn a thing or two that wasn't covered in other Antarctica books, such as Uncle Bill Wilson first attemps at Cape Crozier in the Discovery days.

I would definetly not recommend this book if it's the first one you pick up about Antarctica's Heroic Period. Read first "The worst journey in the world" by Cherry-Garrard, "The last place on earth" by Roland Hunford, "Race to the end" by Ross MacPhee or "The Coldest March" by Susan Solomon BEFORE picking up "An empire of ice" and ONLY if the how and why of science projects in Antarctica is highly valuable to you.

One person found this helpful

Vinyl obsessive

An interesting new approach

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 14, 2011

Verified Purchase

Well crafted, and very well written, this book makes for a most interesting read and certainly offers an original line of thought that should appeal to the most jaded consumer of "heroic age" literature. Taking each broad area of scientific interest and endeavour in turn, Professor Larson provides, chapter by chapter, an easily digestible summary of the successive activities and achievements of the Discovery, Nimrod and Terra Nova expeditions, which didn't prove too dry or challenging for this 'non-scientific' reviewer. At the same time, the author introduces an appropriate level of the 'human interest' and conveys something of the personalities of the main protagonists without overburdening the reader with familiar details and storylines.

Just as the narrative is finding its feet, however, there is a strange and rather superfluous interlude, involving a ten-page examination of the activities of David Livingstone in Africa. This appears to have been included to help establish the credentials of the Royal Geographical Society, as the sponsor of Scott's first expedition, but it seems rather out of place and unnecessarily lengthy. An editorial blue pencil might have improved this part of the book. Moreover, having embarked on this diversion, Professor Larson has displayed a startling lack of appreciation of African geography, in describing (on page 68) how the Victorian explorer travelled 'east' across the Dark Continent to Angola, before 'retracing his steps' and following the Zambesi 'west' to Mozambique... It is to be hoped that a future reprint will also correct the description of Apsley Cherry-Garrard's trek to Cape Crozier as his "Western (sic, as opposed to 'Winter') Journey" (page 209).

The publishers might also have shown a little more imagination in the selection of the cover image, which is the 'six covered in soot and blubber' photo of Priestley, Campbell et al at the conclusion of the Northern Party's ordeal following a winter spent in an ice cave. It's not really representative of the contents, especially given that Priestley's own scientific ambitions were largely frustrated by events, a point emphasised by just how little Professor Larson can find to say about this arm of the Terra Nova expedition. No doubt the publisher didn't have the confidence to use one of Ponting's photos of a boffin busy in a laboratory, but perhaps, given that both of the 'iconic' Britons involved in Antarctic exploration are leading characters in this book, the November 1902 shot of Shackleton and Scott together (with Wilson alongside) might have been considered as an alternative.

These minor criticisms apart, however, the book can be thoroughly recommended as another very worthy addition to the body of Terra Nova 'centenary' literature.

15 people found this helpful

Political Econ Reader

Superb

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on February 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

A book that integrates the scientific with the political and psychological imperatives behind polar exploration. The style is fluent and the narrative compelling

Paul Harris

Present

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

This was a good quality nicely illustrated present for a friend overseas and he was over the moon with this book.

Lesley

Good Read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 26, 2013

Verified Purchase

Bought this for my husband and he enjoyed all the interesting facts contained in the book. Good price well packaged.

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