The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica

by Stephen J. Pyne

Overview

“The Ice is a compilation of more about ice than you knew you wanted to know, yet sheer compelling significance holds attention page by page. . . . Pyne conveys a view of Antarctica that interweaves physical science with humanistic inquiry and perception. His audacity as well as his presentation warrant admiration, for the implications of The Ice are vast.”—New York Times Book Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295976785
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	02/01/1998
Series:	Weyerhaueser Cycle of Fire
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	456
Sales rank:	929,516
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.04(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stephen J. Pyne is a professor in the Biology and Society Program at Arizona State Universty. He is the author of many books, including Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910 and Fire on the Rim: A Firefighter's Season at the Grand Canyon. Fire: A Brief History is the sixth volume in Pyne's Cycle of Fire, which also includes Vestal Fire, World Fire, Burning Bush, The Ice and Fire in America.

Table of Contents

Foreword by William Cronon

Preface to the 1998 Paperback Edition

The Berg

The Pack

No Middle Way: The Exploration of Antarctica

The Shelf

Heart of Whiteness: the Literature and Art of Antarctica

The Glacier

Earth and Ice: The Earth Sciences in Antarctica

The Sheet

The Cold Peace: The Geopolitics of Antarctica

The Source

Afterword

Notes

Sources

Index

What People are Saying About This

William Cronon

Stephen Pyne long ago realized that life is but a special case of the more general chemistry of carbon and exygen that are constantly setting earth aflame. The frozen waste of Antarctica is thus a glimpse at the future that awaits us at the end of all time, when life and fire finally cease.

From the Publisher

"Stephen Pyne long ago realized that life is but a special case of the more general chemistry of carbon and exygen that are constantly setting earth aflame. The frozen waste of Antarctica is thus a glimpse at the future that awaits us at the end of all time, when life and fire finally cease."—William Cronon

Editorial Reviews

"The Ice is a compilation of more about ice than you knew you wanted to know, yet sheer compelling significance holds attention page by page..Pyne conveys a view of Antarctica that interweaves physical science with humanistic inquiry and perception. His audacity as well as his presentation warrant admiration, for the implications of The Ice are vast."

New York Times Book Review

The Ice is a compilation of more about ice than you knew you wanted to know, yet sheer compelling significance holds attention page by page..Pyne conveys a view of Antarctica that interweaves physical science with humanistic inquiry and perception. His audacity as well as his presentation warrant admiration, for the implications of The Ice are vast.

-- "New York Times Book Review"

Stephen Pyne has written an imaginative book that combines a geophysical description of Antarctica with a history of attempts to explore and assimilate intellectually this remote and strange continent.

-- "Isis"

From the Publisher

"Stephen Pyne has written an imaginative book that combines a geophysical description of Antarctica with a history of attempts to explore and assimilate intellectually this remote and strange continent."

Isis

Pyne's 1986 scientific study is more than just a story of a trip to the frozen wastes of Antarctica. In his view, the ice is almost a living thing, with a mind and a soul that deserves to be treated with reverence. More for academics.

Library Journal