Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent

Gabrielle Walker is a scientist who writes like a novelist and the result is a fascinating book about a place that is highly relevant to today's world and what is happening ecologically. Honestly I thought I'd only read the last third which is about the part I'll be visiting. However, as usual I started with the introduction and found I was into the first chapter and didn't want to put it down! I'm reading slowly, taking notes and bookmarking pages: and still haven't gotten to the part I thought would be the only one of interest! I knew Antarctica was an interesting place to go but Walker is enticing me with ideas of how awe inspiring it is. From the theoretical history of how it became frozen and separated into its own land mass to the ecological warning signs for our future and the variety of work being done there it is a book you want to binge read but will force yourself to take it slowly to really internalize every bit. Whether you're going to Antarctica or are just interested in why this spot at the bottom of the world captivates the attention and draws so many people who are not scientists, you will be engrossed in this book. Get it, read it, you'll be so very glad you did.

If you have even a mild interest in Antarctica buy this book. The author has weaved so many animals, knowledge, science, characters and history of the Seventh Continent into this book for your reading. It gives you a greater perspective of what is being researched on Antarctica along with wonderful anecdotes of Scott, Amundsen, and members of the collective explores that saw a purpose to endure and perish. Along with insights into what is being performed by dedicated men and women on Antarctica today.

It was just ok. Although it gave a pretty good picture of life on various parts of Antarctica and the stations, it seemed to me the author went off on too many tangents and a some stories that weren’t relevant to the actual picture of Antarctica. It was longer than it needed to be and some of the meandering could have been left out. I found myself skimming through much of it

Amazing, well written. Tells not only about the science and really focuses on the climate science that goes on there. It also focuses on the history of Antarctica exploration. All were written and informative, but where the book shines is where she talks about the routine life t bases in Antarctica. The food, bars and yes a school.

I chose this book because I thought it would be an overview of Antarctica, a place I've wanted to know more about for a long time. It was that and so much more. It's the perfect place to start learning about the continent. "Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of the Word's Most Mysterious Continent" is a profound narrative of the author's stay on the continent. She spent quite a bit of time there, and shares it all - the scientific studies she visited and took part in, the history she found, the people she met, and the feelings she had along the way. I appreciate that the author didn't get too technical, but the material isn't "dumbed down" either. It's exactly the right narrative for us non-scientists and history nerds. I really couldn't ask more from a book like this. It was a more than satisfying read. Thanks to the fantastic notes the author has left us, including a list of "further reading," it will be easy to find out more about this lonely, dynamic continent. I'll be searching out more of Gabrielle Walker's writings. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Back in my freshman year of college, I had a survey course in Antarctica with a geologist who worked there. Hearing first-hand accounts of living there and the science that goes on had me really enjoying this book. It’s nicely balanced, with history and science applied as needed throughout the narrative.

This is the best book I have ever read on Antarctica - and I have read many. First I borrowed it in hard copy from our local library. I had to sign up on a waiting list to get it. Then I decided I had to own it, so I downloaded it to my Kindle Fire. Now I can go back and read again the parts of this book I found particularly fascinating. It's hard to choose which ones those are, since all of the chapters are full of wondrous facts and stories. No one who has ever dreamed of going to Antarctica should miss this book. If you're planning a trip there, this is a must have, must read.

I was lucky enough to go to The Antarctic peninsula last year and it was so lovely to begin this book before leaving and finishing while on our trip. A beautifully written and fascinating book.

Loved the book! I learned a lot about living in such a harsh place. It is beautiful and terrifying at the same time. A hard expensive trip and I would love to go back!

It’s an excellent book for anyone interested in international activities of Antarctica past and present . It’s also very brilliant presentation of continent’s very soul or what little of it is exposed to us humans .

Gabrielle Walker is a scientist who writes like a novelist and the result is a fascinating book about a place that is highly relevant to today's world and what is happening ecologically. Honestly I thought I'd only read the last third which is about the part I'll be visiting. However, as usual I started with the introduction and found I was into the first chapter and didn't want to put it down! I'm reading slowly, taking notes and bookmarking pages: and still haven't gotten to the part I thought would be the only one of interest! I knew Antarctica was an interesting place to go but Walker is enticing me with ideas of how awe inspiring it is. From the theoretical history of how it became frozen and separated into its own land mass to the ecological warning signs for our future and the variety of work being done there it is a book you want to binge read but will force yourself to take it slowly to really internalize every bit. Whether you're going to Antarctica or are just interested in why this spot at the bottom of the world captivates the attention and draws so many people who are not scientists, you will be engrossed in this book. Get it, read it, you'll be so very glad you did.

If you have even a mild interest in Antarctica buy this book. The author has weaved so many animals, knowledge, science, characters and history of the Seventh Continent into this book for your reading. It gives you a greater perspective of what is being researched on Antarctica along with wonderful anecdotes of Scott, Amundsen, and members of the collective explores that saw a purpose to endure and perish. Along with insights into what is being performed by dedicated men and women on Antarctica today.

It was just ok. Although it gave a pretty good picture of life on various parts of Antarctica and the stations, it seemed to me the author went off on too many tangents and a some stories that weren’t relevant to the actual picture of Antarctica. It was longer than it needed to be and some of the meandering could have been left out. I found myself skimming through much of it

Amazing, well written. Tells not only about the science and really focuses on the climate science that goes on there. It also focuses on the history of Antarctica exploration. All were written and informative, but where the book shines is where she talks about the routine life t bases in Antarctica. The food, bars and yes a school.

I chose this book because I thought it would be an overview of Antarctica, a place I've wanted to know more about for a long time. It was that and so much more. It's the perfect place to start learning about the continent. "Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of the Word's Most Mysterious Continent" is a profound narrative of the author's stay on the continent. She spent quite a bit of time there, and shares it all - the scientific studies she visited and took part in, the history she found, the people she met, and the feelings she had along the way. I appreciate that the author didn't get too technical, but the material isn't "dumbed down" either. It's exactly the right narrative for us non-scientists and history nerds. I really couldn't ask more from a book like this. It was a more than satisfying read. Thanks to the fantastic notes the author has left us, including a list of "further reading," it will be easy to find out more about this lonely, dynamic continent. I'll be searching out more of Gabrielle Walker's writings. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Back in my freshman year of college, I had a survey course in Antarctica with a geologist who worked there. Hearing first-hand accounts of living there and the science that goes on had me really enjoying this book. It’s nicely balanced, with history and science applied as needed throughout the narrative.

This is the best book I have ever read on Antarctica - and I have read many. First I borrowed it in hard copy from our local library. I had to sign up on a waiting list to get it. Then I decided I had to own it, so I downloaded it to my Kindle Fire. Now I can go back and read again the parts of this book I found particularly fascinating. It's hard to choose which ones those are, since all of the chapters are full of wondrous facts and stories. No one who has ever dreamed of going to Antarctica should miss this book. If you're planning a trip there, this is a must have, must read.

I was lucky enough to go to The Antarctic peninsula last year and it was so lovely to begin this book before leaving and finishing while on our trip. A beautifully written and fascinating book.

Loved the book! I learned a lot about living in such a harsh place. It is beautiful and terrifying at the same time. A hard expensive trip and I would love to go back!

It’s an excellent book for anyone interested in international activities of Antarctica past and present . It’s also very brilliant presentation of continent’s very soul or what little of it is exposed to us humans .

Excellent combination of historical perspective, modern-day first-person observations, and a touch of philosophy. The author's background as a science journalist shines through, with superb explanations of the reasons - scientific and personal - that explorers and researchers from around the world were and are so captivated by this extraordinary place. An enjoyable read throughout.

I read the book on a boat as we cruised to Antarctica. I loved it and felt I gained an interesting perspective on what we were about to experience.

The book covers the history of the early expeditions in a way that that feels personal, like you're there with the explorers. The science currently happening there is described in a fascinating and accessible way, partly by revealing it through the personalities of the scientists, making you feel as if you're right beside them ever so cautiously, nervously drilling out ice core samples that reveal tens of thousands of years of Antarctic natural history. The window the author provides on to the singular nature of life on "the continent" and the personalities of the people who inhabit it was completely fascinating.

The book is a trip report by a science journalist who visited several research stations in Antarctica to learn what they were doing, what they were learning and what it was like to visit them. As a traveler I enjoyed it very much. As a long time reader of science books in many fields, I wish there was more detail in the science reports. Still, I learned many things, just not as deeply as I prefer.

This is an extremely interesting account of many different aspects of the Antarctic experience, both modern and historical. Generally we hear just about two things - the megafauna of the continent and the feats of the great explorers. Walker brings attention to so many other things: the science of ice boring; the varying activity of glaciers in different areas; the microscopic signs of life where it seems none could be; the evidence of a once lush climate and even dinosaurs; much, much more. And she draws compelling portraits of the people who are doing (and supporting) all this research. I really enjoyed it.

A wealth of information presented in an interesting story telling method. Never dry or boring.

Super book Lots of information A good read for anyone going or has been to Antarctica

I thought at some point in my reading I would uncover a plot but I never did. It’s just a series of observations with no new information you can’t read elsewhere.

From the October 18, 2012 House of Lords debate on Antarctica: Lord Gilbert: "If I may burden your Lordships, I recommend to you all reading a marvelous new book written by an Englishwoman called Gabrielle Walker. It is simply entitled Antarctica. It is 350 pages long; I have another 30 pages to read. It is brilliant. Anyone who reads the penultimate chapter alone will take seriously the question of human responsibility for our future as being reflected in the developments in West Antarctica."

I've never read about this continent before, and honestly, not even sure why I chose this book. But I started to read diligently, figuring I'd give it a shot. I found I couldn't put it down. It read like an adventure, and it was easy to see and almost feel the scene in the way the author described everything. I learned so much about the area from this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter!

Would have been interesting had she stuck to the science and not spent so much time on her own “heroics”,

Fascinating topic, good writer, excellent presentation. A bit harder to appreciate the maps on an ereader, but that is not the author's fault. If you're considering travelling there (don't laugh, 20,000+ folks come as tourists every year), this a well-rounded introduction - history, science, and plenty of personal stories.

Anything you would ever want to know about Antarctica and the people who work there. This book covers animals, iceburgs, scientists and the camps where they spend their time, etc. A great read for anyone interested the far South! The book is written by a scientist, but in layman's terms. I will read this book again and again from time to time!

Very worthwhile book. Enjoyable mix of tales of life and hazards faced by those hardy souls who dwell on Antarctica, the history of Antarctic exploration, and the science being done on the continent that offers us clues regarding the possibility of life on Mars as well as a warning about the threat that global warming poses to life on our own planet. Superb scientific journalism by a talented writer who herself braved the extremes of Antarctica and who helps you feel that you are right there with her on her adventures. Will look for more of Gabrielle Walker 's work.

Poetry, revererie, and reverence for nature, Dr Walker illuminates the darkness with brilliant science reporting and warms the frozen polar regions with stories of humanity and creatures in this extreme environment. Kudos. Must read.

The author is a natural-born storyteller. Antarctica comes to life via human stories, history, rich description, and an overview of the science done on The Ice. My favorite book about Antarctica.

This book describes Antarctica with such detail you feel like you are actually there. You will learn so much about this mysterious and intriguing continent. Brilliantly written.

Just finished reading this and was a good read. Gabrielle did a nice job and I learned many things did not know. The maps were great and really brought it alive to me even without photos like most of the books on this strange place. Truly was an intimate portrait and will read again.

Everything went as promised Great gift

I find Antarctica a truly mysterious continent because I know very little of the southernmost end of the earth. Aside from some scenes recreated by Hollywood, March of the Penguins was the first movie I've seen that gave a partial but realistic picture of Antarctica. I'm glad I read this ebook by Gabrielle Walker. It really gave me an intimate portrait of a fascinating yet formidable continent.

My son was filming a documentary in Antarctica while I was reading this book. I felt like I could see some of what he was seeing from the perspective that this book was written from. I recommend to everybody who has ever been curious about the amzaing sounding Continent. Gabrielle Walker is a very brave woman!

Have never been nor do I expect to ever visit Antarctica - but thought this would be a good book on what it is to live and work there. Have read books by the author on other subject matter.

purchased for my aunt before her trip to antarctica, she enjoyed it

Not an intimate portrait, it is more like the view of a well informed passing by tourist, a valid view, but not an intimate one. For an intimate portrait, read Endurance by Lansing, written by someone that wasn't even there when the story happened but achieved intimacy. Three pages explaining in third person how is it like to be a tourist in a rough ocean, is a waste of paper, ink and my time. Maybe I was expecting too much out of it. An appropriate name for the book should have been " A complete tourist guide to Antartica" but the word intimate is a word too big for this one. There is plenty of nice data and curious stories, but it is hard to separate what is important from the things that are superficial and cheesy. You end up swallowing the cheesy in order to get to the good stuff, and I do not have the endurance for that :) If you like in depth tourist guide books, yes i recommend it. If you like reads with power, with character and with gravitas, stay away.

I really liked this book.Great stories about living in Antarctica and excellent scientific knowledge at a level an average person could relate to.

This was the perfect book to read on a steamy July. The author did a great job of combining history, science, and personal accounts of Antarctica. It was a little repetitive in parts but very enjoyable. A trip to Antarctica is now on my bucket list!

Quite an adventure; A very enjoyable and educational, couch bound trip. You can say you've been there after this book read.

Not too bad but more of a story about the writer that the continent. For $5 ok.

Very informative, sounds like a different place for a vacation...perhaps a working vacation would be best.....

This is one if the best books I have read recently! The author has a wonderfully descriptive style and while I have never had a desire to visit that continent she has the gift of making you feel as if you had been along for the journey.

Very readable book although the lack of pictures is puzzling and disappointing. A bit preachy on the global warming front although some of the descriptions on the ice core drilling were interesting, and disturbing.

One of the most interesting and well written books I have read. I love science books written for the "non-professional" lover of science. Highly recommended.

I loved this book! I learned about the history of Antartica and the science being done. The science is described very understandably. It's like going on an adventure to Antartica, once started I had a hard time putting the book down.

This book delivers a most presentable sample of the serious science going on in this continent by most nations of the world. The author is most gifted at presenting the science as well as the incredible life experience of those brave (and unusual) people who are doing this work in a most hostile environment. I borrowed this book from the local university library, but had to have my own copy before I had finished the loaner.

Recommended.

An interesting mixture of history and personal impressions. Antarctica has so much to tell us.

Fascinating! I really got caught up in the events and people she included.

The book was a great interest to me as we are about to take a ship around the Horn. Good infor on how the folks survived in such harsh circumstances

Good read that is very descriptive of the Antarctic and the human presence that is there.

This is an extremely well written and insightful book concerning one of the last frontiers on earth. Walker's research should be must reading for anyone who has doubts about the effects of global warming; and those who enjoy a good adventure.

It was very interesting and informative. The writing style held my interest throughout.

Can't wait to read it

Great book. Has many nuances about the Antarctica which I plan on visiting soon.

This gives all the details you need for traveling to the Antarctic in a friendly, easy-to-read style. Not dry, like a scientific paper. I would recommend it.

The latest in exploration on Antartica.

Great descriptions of the continent. Easy to read.

Good book. More attention to human subjects that I would have liked.

Very engaging and informative. Well written.

Excellent non fiction and scientific

This book covers all aspects of Antarctica, from the history, to the scientific research to the tourist trade. Probably the bulk of the book is on the scientific research being conducted there, which makes sense as that's the bulk of what happens in Antarctica. It's all written in an engaging manner by someone who has traveled all over Antarctica.

I'm going there. I wanna know where I'm going and I need eleven more words to finish this here review.

A woman's look at all the areas and bases and science studies being undertaken in Antarctica. The author went to the frozen continent many times, and interviewed everyone from overwintering mechanics at the Pole to Russian priests to hardy penguin researchers. If you were following the drilling down through ice cores to an under ice lake - that's here, including why the team stopped six metres above the water. If you want to know about Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen and many other hardy souls, that's here too. If you want to understand why Chile and Argentina have been having babies born at their bases, and shipped in to spend the summer, you'll find out. If you are not sure what parts of Antarctica are freezing more and what parts are melting dangerously fast, or how we know, it's all covered. And if you'd like to volunteer to walk in search of meteorites lying on the ice, on a landscape not too dissimilar to Mars - that's in the book. This is a brilliant, skilled, sensory piece of writing, full of journalism, history, poetry and science. This is an unbiased review.

This is not just a scientific description of the various facets of Antarctica. It is rather an exploration, an as-if-you-were-there narrative which then includes the relevant science and exploration. The author visits several areas, some quite remote, and describes the sights, sounds and ambience of where she is at. One chapter, "Mars on Earth" describes an especially remote, dry region, undisturbed for millions of years, that approximates the Martian climate. Fascinating. As an added bonus, the author writes very well, in an engaging, clear style that helps us visualize the areas she describes and people she encounters. There is a whole sub-culture of society living on Antarctica. This books takes the reader to a place on earth with no counterpart. I most highly recommend this book.

"Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent" is an extraordinary book written by an extraordinary woman. Gabrielle Walker weaves all the significant research about the threads of life on Antarctica's vast ice sheets into a profound tapestry of what it's like to be there. Walker says because Antarctica is the oldest landscape in the world it's still telling its story to anyone who stays long enough to hear. Although Antarctica is bigger than the continental US and has forty-nine temporary bases it officially belongs to nobody. An international treaty was signed by forty-nine countries declaring the entire place to 'peace and science' in the early 60s. Walker reports the history and cutting-edge science experiments on the giant West and larger East Antarctic Ice Sheets, the vulnerable Western Amundsen Coast, the rapidly warming Antarctic Peninsula, the massive barrier-like Ross and Ronne Ice Shelves and the South Pole. It's fascinating to learn how the South Pole's Remote Earth Science and Seismological Observatory looks inwards to the Earth's core to measure earthquakes and construct an image of the Earth's mantle - it has a liquid outer core made of pure iron and a hot hard solid sphere of iron in the center. Because the observatory picks up the seismic waves of nuclear bombs they can make sure nobody cheats on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. At the same time giant telescopes high on the summits of the high plateau of the eastern ice sheets probe the cold, dry sky to see parts of the Universe that other telescopes can't reach. Walker says the Earth's history, buried as bubbles of ancient air in ice core samples in Antarctica tell us beyond any doubt that our burning of oil, coal and gas has significantly changed our atmosphere. Twelve thousand foot ice core samples from the Russian Vostok Station with four full ice age records showed a tight correlation between the Earth's temperature, greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide. The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today are higher than they have been for at least 800,000 years. The temperature records from many stations confirm the Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by five degrees Fahrenheit over the previous fifty years, which is three times the global average. The Larson B Ice shelf shattered in 2002 and satellite images show ice retreating in the Amundson Sea sector. Researchers found this has not happened for a least 10,000 years. Two stations also found there are hundreds of interconnected lakes underlying the Antarctic ice. Since the lakes frequently fill and empty scientists fear the rushing water could destabilize large parts of the ice sheet. On a positive note when Antarctica researchers discovered a hole in the ozone layer in the mid 80s there was international cooperation to ban the offending chemicals and the hole recovered. Many meteorites (including Lunar and Martian) and dinosaur remains are being found and studied. Walker says if we humans look honestly into the Antarctica's ice mirror we'll see how small we are and perhaps learn humility which is the first step towards wisdom. My husband and I found Walker's descriptions of the places, people, wildlife and research so captivating we could not put her book down.

On land, Earth's Final Frontier is also the world's coldest, driest and windiest place. Home to hundreds of research scientist, engineers, pilots and mechanics as well as cooks and bartenders, all of whom share a love of adventure and hardship. In Gabrielle Walker's Antarctica you will read about the people who have lived, and died, on this frozen continent. Some of those people will live in our memories forever: men like Shackleton, Scott, Amundsen are names are well known to every school child and more than a few adults too. Walker will also introduce you to some modern day explorers, both men and women, who are brave enough and dedicated enough, to test their personal limits - to the n'th degree. Dr. Walker has a Ph.D. In Chemistry and is an accomplished writer of science books for the layperson reader. In Antarctica she covers a diverse range of different scientific disciplines; geology, astronomy, biology and atmospheric research to name a few. Using the hands-on approach of actually going to Antarctica, interviewing the scientist and support crews, to give her readers a clear and entertaining view of this isolated world. There are a lot of unfamiliar places mentioned in the text and the reader could easily get lost if it weren't for the fine maps at the beginning of each chapter. How about a trip to Mars? If that's too far for you, the next best thing is a day in the Dry Valleys and one valley in particular: the Beacon Valley where you can hunt for meteorites in a place that has remained unchanged for millions of years. Or how about joining the March of the Penguins as you study the biology and behavior of Adelie or Emperor penguins. Deep drilling for ice-cores is a good way to study long term climate change and atmosphere evolution by analyzing tiny bubbles of trapped air in the ice. Astronomers get some of the best views of the Cosmos here, they can observe the huge dust cloud at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy and find out whats going on with the Black Hole, that resides there. And how about the Big Bang? Well, the South Pole is a good place to observe and study the CMB for clues about the beginning of everything. Whatever your research preferences are this is the place to get a clearer picture of the issues. And if history is more to your liking, this book will give you an introduction to some of the early explorers and adventurers that helped put Antarctica on the map. Join geologist Douglas Mawson on his 1912 expedition to explore Adelie Land, where his two companions would perish and Mawson himself would be in danger of being stranded, to die alone, at Aladdin's Cave. Who would be first at the Pole? Most people know how that turned out but the stories of the winners and losers will certainly whet your apatite for more in-depth works. Getting to Antarctica can be an adventure all it's own. You'll probably come by boat, as a passenger on a research ship or crew a sailing vessel, from South America or the Falkland Islands and cross the infamous Drake's Passage on your way to the Antarctic Peninsula. Once there you will experience one of the best scenic and wild-life viewing places in Antarctica, maybe even the world. There is even a stunningly beautiful Russian Orthodox Church on King George Island, a bleak outpost at the end of the world (look for the images on the internet - you'll be amazed). This well written book will provide you with a glimpse into a frozen wilderness, the research stations, and the people who live and work there. As much as I liked this book it does have one Negative against it. At one point Walker talks about her camera and taking pictures to document her trip. It's too bad she and the publishers did not see fit to include some of those pictures into this edition. A book like this needs pictures and since the author was documenting the trip anyway why not use them? I would have liked to see some of those places she talks about and get a look at the people she interviewed. Anyway, pictures or not, this is a rich and wonderful book and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something to read on a cold, snowy, February day. Last Ranger

Gabrielle Walker subtitled her book "An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent," and it goes a long way toward explaining some of those mysteries. She spent years gathering the information for this book, which details the whole continent, not just the areas where the tourists go to see penguins. Walker has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cambridge University, so she's a scientist -- but a scientist who can write. This book is packed with information, but it's far from dry or dull. Not only does she describe the science, she also describes life at the various international bases on Antarctica, and the often eccentric types who choose to pursue this line of study. The result is a book with humor and heart. Antarctica is divided into two main sections: the smaller, western ice sheet that includes the northern peninsula most visited by cruise ships, and the much larger eastern ice sheet that includes the true South Pole. Walker visited the Pole, as well as a number of other bases, both coastal and inland, established by a host of nations including the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Italy and France. What scientists have discovered is truly amazing, and also truly scary in some cases. While the ice sheets are miles thick, they aren't solid all the way to the Earth's core. Huge lakes lie beneath, created from ice melted by the heat from the core below and the immense pressure of the ice sheets above. So much of the ice is always moving, some of it slowly, some of it astonishingly fast. And then there are the creatures able to survive in this vast frozen wilderness: several varieties of penguins, seals and seabirds. There's also plenty of microscopic life surviving in the sea, lakes and crevasses. Those crevasses can open without warning when the snow "bridge" over them collapses. It's one of the ever-present hazards that ensure humans don't get overconfident about their time in Antarctica. Another hazard is getting lost in a snowstorm and freezing to death. While Walker avoids the worst situations, she does have some frightening experiences. Walker's descriptive powers transport the reader to the icy continent, with its sights, sounds, smells and, of course, bone-freezing cold. One of my favorites is when she describes a large settlement of penguins sounding "like a cackling orchestra of kazoos." Anyone who's seen the documentary "March of the Penguins" knows that sound! While Walker doesn't get preachy, there are environmental warnings woven through the book -- ice that's melting too fast and temperatures higher than ever recorded, based on ice core samples pulled from the deep that were formed millions of years ago. Even a slight sea rise caused by melting ice at the poles would spell disaster for those living in coastal areas. Reading this book was definitely educational for me. I only wish that the textbooks I read in school could have been written as well!

As far as I'm concerned, there is no place on Earth as interesting as Antarctica. You may be differently concerned, but even it that's the case, you will still find much here that is interesting and intriguing. Not exactly a travelogue, not exactly a natural history, not exactly a cultural history, not exactly and environmental study, it is bits of all of those things rolled into a quirky little gem of an overview of the bottom of the world. Both an academic and popular science writer, Walker takes us along with her as she visits a number of scientific outposts on Antarctica, introducing us to the men and women who make it their sometimes, temporary home and laboratory. She also allows us to meet some of the equally fascinating individuals who support them - cooks, mechanics, pilots, etc. These are tight, close-knit mini-societies working (mostly) cooperatively together in places few other humans have ever been. We learn the science, but also the processes and personalities behind it. We meet the famous inhabitants, like penguins and seals, as well as the much lesser known natives like eight-armed sea stars and fish with anti-freeze in their veins, We also get a number of thumbnail histories of those who first had the heroic combination of bravery, foolishness and hubris to visit and explore the continent: Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton, Byrd. But along with the reporting, there is also the personal. Walker shares of herself. Not in any confessional or "spiritual-quest" sort of way, but rather in the thoughts and insights of an intelligent, thoughtful observer in a world in which circumstance also makes her a participant. She both interviews and reflects. She is good company. If you are remotely interested in Antarctica, you will find much here to enjoy. Note to Tony Stark: She did good.

The author of this work takes us on a tour of the most bizarre and dangerous continent in the world, and in doing so, she explains not only the geography, but also why people are working in this place to begin with. It would seem, on its face, that it would be counter-intuitive for anyone to be in Antarctica, let alone living and working there. There are a number of research station located in Antarctica, and each is doing work in a different area of scientific research as well as in very different places across the continent. And, each location is very different, in many ways, from all the other places. The author takes us on a tour by describing the area where each research station is located, as well as a description of the research each is doing and why they are doing it. One example is an area where scientists are taking ice cores from great depths. It is painstaking work and is done in a barren area far from the oceans, or other research stations. They are actually in the center of the continent over some of the thickest ice in the world and the purpose of the research is to take ice cores and determine past climate from the different layers. The author describes the research work in relatively easy to understand terms and describes the beauty and harshness of the environment with an awe and respect seldom seen in writing. If you wish to learn more about this continent, and the work scientists are doing there, then this book is a must read. I highly recommend it for all!

"Come to Antarctica--Where there's a Woman behind every tree." This sample of Antarctica humor was true for decades. There are no trees in Antarctica and until very recently there weren't any women on the continent either. In 1935 the wife of a Norwegian Whaling Captain went ashore briefly and became the first woman to set foot on Antarctic. In 1947-48 two wives of explorers became the first women to spend a winter there. In 1969 the floodgates were opened and "six women who have been allowed into the American program are flown to the South Pole for a photo opportunity. Stepping off the plane, they link arms so that all six of them become the `first' women there." In 1978, "Emilio Marcos Palma was the first baby to be born on the continent, at Argentine station Esperanza on the Antarctic Peninsula." In 1979 the first Martian meteorite is found on the continent." In 1986 the first dinosaur in Antarctica is found by Argentine scientists on James Ross Island." These are only a few of the kinds of facts included in the fascinating read. "It's incredible. There's this giant ocean below you. It's like walking through a spaceship door and seeing the universe. If you're not going to be a space man, you better be an Antarctica diver because it's the next best thing. "The water is so clear that you can see for 250, maybe 300 yards in the green half-light. Your head tells you that this impossible, that distant divers cannot be so far away and still seem clearly visible that they must instead be much closer, handing nearby in the water like tiny Tinker Bells. Nobody is tethered. You float freely to maximize your flexibility, always deeply mindful of the shaft of light, what Same calls the `Jesus beam', that shoots down from the dive hale and shows the way home." "And below you, the grey sea floor is carpeted with alien creatures. Run you flashlight over them and their colours leap out. There are brittle stars, golden discs that raise themselves up on their five long legs as you approach, and then march away on tiptoe like the Martians from `The War of the Worlds,' feather stars, 40 cm across, that look like a bundle of bottle brushes and swim by waving their protuberances wilding as if they were drunken octopuses: and sun stars, a sort of bright orange starfish with up to forty arms, which in the waters of McMurdo Sound can grow to a meter or more. "For this is the land of giants. The sea spiders here are more than a thousand times bigger than the ones elsewhere in the world. They stride over the seabed like colossi, a full foot from tip to toe. They are supposed to have eight legs, like their relatives on the land. But some have ten or even twelve." These are only some of the sea creatures living beneath the Ross Ice Shelf. Many of the fish "fill their bodies with antifreeze." There are "Fotaminifera, or foranms for short... Each of them is made up of one single cell...but they are actually several millimeters long, the size of fingernail, big enough to pick up individually with a pair of tweezers...these forams are predators!" They rip the flesh out of much bigger critters that get caught in their webs...They eat much larger crustaceans like juvenile starfish...and they tear apart their prey and eat them while they are still alive. The description of the under the ice life forms as described by Diver Sam Bowser is only a sample of the fascinating stories included in this non-fiction page turner. There are lots of stories of how humans died trying to survive the Antarctic's totally hostile environment, but they aren't really the most interesting material in this book. Another of this reviewer's favorite sections involved the searching for and collecting of meteorites and looking for life inside actual rocks on the most Martian-like environment on earth--Antarctica's Beacon Valley. In three major sections and seven subchapters the author manages to keep the reader totally engrossed for the books entire 390 information packed pages. The three main sections of the book are: "East Antarctic Coast--Alien World," "The High Plateau--Turning Point" and "West Antarctica--Home Truths." Subchapters include "Welcome to Mactown, The March of the Penguins, Mars on Earth" and "The South Pole." Some of the other sections are every bit as interesting as the included sample section earlier in the this review about the world beneath the ice. This reviewer didn't think he was going to like this book but by the second chapter he was hopelessly caught in the writer's skillfully constructed web.

I've always been fascinated by the frozen areas of the globe but until now my reading on this topic was limited to the North. This book is a refreshing change for me and has certainly enhanced my world view of our planet. The author is a British science writer who traveled to various places in Antarctica in a quest to bring understanding of this unique place to the public. Her writing is excellent and very clear. It made me feel I was right there with her as she explored the continent, interviewing the scientists who chose to live there with the understanding that once winter sets in, they are literally trapped for the season. There are no native populations but there is international cooperation from French, Italian, American and other scientists And, naturally, the French have the best food. Ms. Walker writes this book from her own particular perspective and was able to impart the reality of the long dark nights, the sea creatures, the dedication of the people around her and the extreme weather conditions. I identified with her and felt I was right by her side as she learned about this unique place and shared it with her readers. Some of it was quite technical but I had no trouble following most of it. Generally, I was just plain fascinated. This is a good read about a unique subject. Science buffs will love it!

God forbidding. Trackless. Seemingly lifeless. The very definition of monotonous, at least visually. Could a portrait of Antarctica be interesting for a couple of hundred of pages given those adjectives? Yes it can. Life lived at the extreme, in the hands of a good author, can be a very interesting read. Gabrielle Walker, in "Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent," gives a very good account of what life is like there for the scientists who inhabit the continent as well as the life that survives and even thrives outside without the aid of parkas, thick boots or shelter. The author's journey is a tour of various permanent and seasonal research bases. These are on the coast, at the South Pole, atop a high elevation plateau (really a mountain, but with a very long and gradual rise to the crest) and points in between. This framework allows the author to portray the continent through several lenses. Woven throughout the book are the tales of early explorers who discovered and made "firsts" on what was (and is) the world's final frontier. Thus, we get well-done capsules of Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton and other explorers who helped build knowledge of Antarctica through exploration. Having read several book-length accounts of these journeys, the author does a good job of summarizing their fascinating stories of daring and hardship. Always, the take-off for one of the author's tours is her visit to a different research station. Thus, Amundsen and Scott make their entry while the author visits McMurdo Station, on the Ross Ice Shelf (actually, on an island in the shelf), where the pole dashers started their fated and ill-fated journeys. The scientists in this station study, among other things, penguins and other birds who inhabit the coast and near-coast. Walker digresses with the aid of a couple of researchers on the habits and life of these avian natives. Other scientists study life at the margins, in places where it seems most hostile and desperate. Organisms grow in Antarctica in absolute deserts where the surface temperature never gets above freezing as well as below ice sheets dozens of feet thick. A particular fish has evolved with anti-freeze in its body as a way of coping in the environment. In the desert, this life manifests itself as thin green layers of slime imbedded inside of rocks, but it is there none-the-less. Some of the scientists studying in this desert location are experts on Mars and are there because the temperature, earth structure, lack of precipitation and other factors are a pretty good proxy for the environment on the Red planet and they hope to gain insights into whether or not any remnants of life from that planet's moist and atmospheric past could still be tucked away underground or within rocks or boulders. The Amundsen-Scott station, run by the United States, is on the South Pole (ok, technically near it since the ice covering moves everything around a bit) and the site of the coldest and darkest reaches of the continent. Here, scientists study the skies as the crystal-clear and unpolluted air offers the best telescopic viewing on the planet. The air itself is studied as its relative purity provides a good baseline against which to measure carbon gas changes elsewhere on earth. At a joint French-Italian station, ice cores are mined to several miles in depth as the air bubbles trapped within render an accurate composition of what the air contained thousands and thousands of years ago. The reason for Antarctica being populated (winter population around 2,000) is the science and the book gives an interesting look at what is studied and researched there. But the story of what it takes to live in this harshest of places to do the science is an equally fascinating part of the book. Walker gives good account of what life is like hunkered down for ten months at a time in darkness, cut-off from resupply, at the South Pole. There, and at other only slightly less forbidding stations, people have adapted their surroundings in order to live and study in 70 degree below zero or more (there is a minus-100 club at the South Pole Station). Relationships among crew members are heavily influenced by close proximity, cooping up within a small compound (it gets smaller as the time grows longer), the inability to leave as well as limited outside contact or supply for the better part of a year. Walker does a good job of letting the reader see how life is lived in these harsh conditions. Her ability to mix history, science and travelogue - as well as personality - make for an enjoyable read that is as accessible as it is informative.

Walker has written about her five visits to Antarctica that spanned a period of ten years. She covered a large swath of territory as she visited with scientists and support staff from several nations at several locations including the South Pole. Her interactions with staffers and scientists are personal and unabridged, but given in a favorable light for the most part. She has a background in physical science so her appreciation of what she encountered is revealed with ease and knowledge. Her prose is fluid and pleasant to read and often thoughtful, provocative and poetic. Her text includes numerous digressions into the scientific accomplishments (and adventures) of early explorers. If a reader is familiar with exploits of scientists of the heroic age (early twentieth century), then some of this material will be redundant and distracting. When she writes about a scientific project that she has visited, she explains background to the science topic and in places goes much deeper. The implications of the work are explained. In many ways her book is comparable to Terra Incognita by Sara Wheeler (Random House, 1988), although she doesn't demonstrate the humor that Wheeler showed. In the main, the two books are very similar in slant and content.

This book very much lives up to the subtitle: "an intimate portrait." Author Gabrielle Walker presents a personal and informal presentation of all aspects of Antarctica, from the landscape, to the science, to the wildlife, to the negative possibilities of global warming. I can't think of anything she didn't address. Walker is the reader's guide at most times, occasionally stepping back to give historical background information of Scott and Amundsen's expeditions, but also a variety of anecdotes from the harsh winter-overs that scientists experience, to fatal seal attacks. I was interested, but for me it was often not especially compelling. While I liked the information, Walker's personal tone was often a little too informal - it often read like a well-crafted journal and series of creatively transcribed interviews, and didn't do enough to capture the vast scale of the continent. I felt too close to the author and her subjects, and I wanted some distance to appreciate this utterly alien place. You get the detail of many conversations, including questions she asked and direct answers she received. I didn't need so much "intimate" detail - but that's exactly what the title is saying she is going to provide, and that's exactly what she gives. So this is not falsely presented, by any means, and I think some readers would appreciate this personal guided 'tour.' For me, considering the epic scale of Antarctic expeditions, and the harsh and unforgiving nature of the scientific lives that go on there, I felt that very personal tone didn't match up. The story didn't feel "big" enough to me, and I grew a little bored with Walker's voice. It certainly wasn't dry or boring, it was instead a little too jaunty and unserious - but it's consistent, and a deliberate choice. So my criticism is my reader's preference, not poor writing on her part. Lots of good information here, and the book was certainly "okay." A reader who likes her up-close storytelling is going to appreciate this more than me.

There certainly has been no shortage of books about Antarctica in recent years. But one of the things that makes this one especially worthwhile is the fact that the author is herself a scientist. We get plenty of in-depth discussion about exactly what those scientists are doing down there: the ice-core work, the analysis of glacier slippage in West Antarctica, the astronomy work at the pole, the search for interplanetary meteorites, and a number of other projects. The end-notes provide additional references for those interested in pursuing these subjects in more detail, but the text doesn't require any knowledge of science other than what (I hope) is shared by most educated people. The book also discusses. rather briefly, the history of Antarctica and the expeditions of the heroic age. And we learn about the psychology of how people interact in the artificial environment of the scientific stations. The NSF allows journalists to visit Antarctica (rather grudgingly, to be sure), and there have been quite a few rather superficial treatments of life on the continent, but Walker has spent a lot of time there and is able to give us a much deeper understanding. I learned a lot.

Gabrielle Walker, a British scientist with a Ph.D. in chemistry, has captured the wonderful, almost other worldly quality of the southernmost part of our planet in Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent. Penguins are Antarctica's cute cliche and I love them as much as anyone but there are many other fascinating creatures of Antarctica that Walker includes in her book, among them giant single-celled organisms that survive in the Antarctic Sea by eating multi-celled animals much larger than themselves, cyanobacteria that somehow make their homes inside rocks, and the idiosyncratic research scientists and support people from countries around the world who have chosen to live in a frozen desert that has only one day per year, with six months of sunlight followed by six months of darkness. Walker spent a lot of time in Antarctica herself visiting its numerous research stations, including a joint French and Italian outpost where scientists drilled into ice so old and deep that the cores they extracted reveal information about what the Earth's atmosphere and climate were like before the existence of our species. Because she traveled to facilities run by various countries she is able to report that the Italians have the most fashionable cold weather apparel, the French serve the best meals complete with wine, the Russians have a beautiful if incongruous domed Eastern Orthodox church to worship in, the Argentinians have schools and other child-friendly facilities because they encourage families to settle there, and the British are only beginning to catch up to the Americans in terms of the percentage of females on site. The unique features of Antarctica make it appealing to scientists of just about any field, from biology and climate change to astronomy and space exploration. Since their communities are small and insular, people tend to mix so that a carpenter, an astrophysicist, a cook and an administrator might all sit down to eat together. With a writing style as engaging as the best fiction, Walker makes reading about their lives and challenges just as interesting as learning about the science they do. If you've seen Werner Herzog's wonderful documentary about Antarctica,

My knowledge on matters related to Antarctica has been, admittedly, episodic and fragmented. Like those snowfalls that accumulate, and eventually hardened into glaciers, that knowledge has been compiled over a few years (though not as many as it takes to make a glacier!) Most memorable was the movie

Having read books about the "heroic" Antarctic explorers such as Scott, Mawson, Amundsen, Shackleton and others, but never paying much attention to what has happened on that continent since then, and never having been to Antarctica myself, this book provided an interesting glimpse of what has been happening there recently and what has changed over the past century. And what changes there have been. The men of 100 years ago who struggled to reach the South Pole by the only means possible at the time - months of arduous and sometimes fatal journeys on foot - would be astonished to find humans living there year-round today, with living comforts similar to home, and in constant contact with home. The author, who has spent considerable time on the Antarctic continent herself, takes us along with her on visits to the Amundsen Scott station at the Pole as well as a number of other of the outposts scattered across the continent, all of which are there for the purpose of doing scientific research (with one odd exception). She tells us about having a drink with 800,000 year old ice cubes (presumably for the novelty, as one can't imagine too much demand for chilled beverages in Antarctica), how the atmosphere at each station various according to the nation that runs the station (naturally the French have the best food), how she went from hating penguins to loving them, and more - and colors the whole experience with stories from the heroic age of exploration. You'll pick up a lot of little factoids, including learning that children and domestic animals are prohibited on the continent. Another of the things that has changed since the heroic age is that women are now present on the continent - as the author tells us over and over, as though this is a surprise. And of course a modern story about Antarctica and change wouldn't be complete if it didn't spend a lot of time pointing how "climate change" has affected the place over the past century, with lots of ice melting. I enjoyed the book for the modern glimpse it gives us of the Earth's most remote continent. It was like reading a very long article in National Geographic - a magazine that I still enjoy reading from time to time. It's not a bad thing, and I mention this more to describe the journalistic style than anything else.

I am besotted by Antarctica and this brought me to parts of Antarctica that I will never reach. It explained what is happening with the Western Antarctic glaciers and why we are in danger due to their proximity to the sea bed. Gabrielle Walker's writing clarifies the science that goes on in a very clear and concise manner. In fact I would imagine few, if any, other people have visited so many different locations in Antarctica. For this book she visited US bases, UK bases, an Italian and French base. She brings us to the Pole, to the Ross sea, to the Peninsula and to the very difficult to reach glaciers of Western Antarctica.. I have started other books on Antarctica and put them down, unfinished. This one I couldn't wait to get back to. She brings the science, the places and the people to life..

Antacrtica is a place that is barely part of the Earth we know. It is so strangely different! The author uses her tremendous talent as a storyteller to bring to life many of the surprisingly diverse regions and settlements around the continent. From historical accounts to current scientific endeavors to unusual humans (the real "characters"), she brings the entire frozen "end of the Earth" to life. For us 99.99999% who will never visit Antarctica, this book is a wonderful consolation prize. I can even forgive the increasing doses of global warming alarism which creep into the narrative as it progresses (no doubt a requirement to the agencies who funder the author's travels). Highly recommended!

I knew very little about this cold bottom of our planet. This book soon had me thoroughly involved in reading more & more! I highly recommend this selection.

Walker shows us the human as well as the interesting geological sides of this frigid continent. She is an accomplished scientist and author. The human aspects interested me the most. I'd like to know more about the personal-social arrangements there among the scientists and others. Some parts of the book seemed too long or repetitive Such as setting up a piece of equipment to make it work right. That's the only reason I gave this 4 stars, not five. It is a fairly light read, written for general educated, curious readers, not scientists or specialists. I was attracted to the book after reading ALONE by Richard Byrd, that she quotes in the book. I recommend that title also. Having seen a picture of Walker and her YouTube, I'd say she may be the only hot spot in Antarctica.