3 comments about Antarctica on a Plate.

1. I read this book when it first came out in Australia and it is an absorbing, funny page-turner. I think many of us have felt just like the author who was stuck in a rote, materialistic, urban life -- is this all life has to offer? She wanted change and boy did she make a change! She lied her way into a job in Antarctica as a cook! People have described this book as Bridget Jones-meets-Antarctica. And it is an apt summary, but I think it's more than that. For one, the writing is certainly better than your average chick lit. And the subject is something both men and women can relate to: the search for something more meaningful in life than just making money and buying a lot of stuff. The way the author goes about doing that -- with equal parts intention and chance -- felt true, nerve racking at times, and completely fascinating. If you've ever felt 'there's got to be more to life than this' and have longed for adventure and meaning, this book will especially speak to you. If you just want something gripping to read, the author has a good story and tells it exceedingly well with wonderful language.



2. This might be an adequate book for the twenty-something crowd or the teenie boppers, but it is largely tedious, laden with self-pity and complaint over the living conditions. She exaggerates her qualifications to get a cooking job for an Antarctic outfitter, then frets that she isn't able to do it very efficiently. Those who dine at her table apparently find the fare adequate in quality, if sometimes shy in quantity. I listened to this book as an audio book and found there were a few adequate moments, but most of it was whine, whine, whine. Want some cheese with that?
   She did fall in love with the Antarctic landscape and offers some great descriptive passages. The book culminates with her falling in love with a married man who runs a weather station. She stews over the ethics of falling in love with someone who is already spoken for, then goes right ahead and does it.
   "Big Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica" is a much better account of living and working in arctic conditions. "Icebound" is another book that deserves your attention. Anthony Bourdain has nothing to fear from this flaky chick and her culinary capers.



3. If you enjoyed Dr. Gerri Nielsen's Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole or Sara Wheeler's Terra Incognita, and especially if you liked Roff Smith's Life on the Ice: No One Goes to Antarctica Alone, you will be delighted with Alexa Thomson's "Antarctica on a Plate." Ms. Thomson rivals Roff Smith for sheer audacity in thinking that she is qualified to be hired and to travel to Antarctica, or that she can manage as a cook in tent at a base camp that is packed up and buried (sometimes for years) when not in use.
   
   Her audacity serves her well as she joyfully bungles her way around her tent kitchen, enduring exploding stoves, waves of eccentric explorers, and the possibility that any day the whole camp could get blown away. A reader who, through lack of sufficient youth, health, funds or qualifications is unable to see Antarctica firsthand can revel in the vicarious adventure of seeing it through Alexa Thomson's eyes.
   
   This reader owns and has read shelves of books about Antarctica, and "Antarctica on a Plate" has become my new favorite.

5 comments about Bold Endeavors : Lessons from Polar and Space Exploration.

1. Bold Endeavors by Jack Stuster proved to be a real page-turner! Since childhood reading about adventures and explorers had been my favorite literature. In this book the persons behind these endeavors came to life. They were of flesh and blood and you as a reader took part of their everyday life, their hardships and personal problems. A thrilling experience. A lesson in the importance of relationships not only among people in isolation A lesson of use at job interviews, schools and even in families. I am thankful for an added knowledge and understanding of the many problems associated with these Endeavors. This book should be a "must" to all young people.



2. A very important contribution to our understanding of human behavior and to the advancement of space travel.



3. Dr Stuster has scored! He has captured the essence of a major field in human factors research....and made it pleasant and entertaining. Much like reading a great historical novel and learning history, except this is no novel! It is a welcome addition to my library.



4. Dr. Jack Stuster's "Bold Endeavors" distills a considerable amount of careful research into a book that is much more interesting than the usual dry study of this nature. By collecting data from a number of disparate sources, including Shackleton's 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, Thor Heyerdahl's "Ra" voyage, years of military experience at bases in the Antarctic, and even undersea habitat experiments, Dr. Stuster has produced an exceptionally well thought out series of suggestions applicable not only to expeditions on Earth, but to future Moon settlements and Mars expeditions as well, assuming these ever happen (I would prefer to be more optimistic and I know Dr. Stuster is, but the current trend is not promising). In fact, this book has become required reading among the astronauts, who have recognized its value.

   The book is organized into chapters that deal with a particular facet of human behavior as it applies to expedition settings, such as personnel selection, personal space, group interaction and the like. Dr. Stuster carefully illustrates each chapter's point with well-selected vignettes from previous expedition experience. For example, he discusses in-depth the importance of leadership by comparing and contrasting the successes of Shackleton, Admiral Byrd, Thor Heyerdahl and others to a particularly good example of a poor leader, Lt. Charles Wilkes, the commander of the somewhat fraught 1838-1842 US Navy expedition, noted only for discovering imaginary territory and the endless conflicts between Wilkes and the unfortunate men under his command. It is worth noting that while Wilkes' first reaction to leadership was to hoist a distinguishing pennant and basically promote himself to acting Commodore as soon as he was out of sight of land, Shackleton, Byrd, and Heyerdahl, though obviously in charge, led their men in as egalitarian and considerate a manner as possible. Stuster also points out the importance of little things in keeping an expedition's morale high - shared meals, opportunities for privacy, a good viewing window on a space station.

   By including and discussing negative as well as positive expedition experiences Dr. Stuster has produced a very valuable book that will not only be of interest to our astronauts and persons planning expeditions here on Earth (read Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" for a recent example of bad expedition planning and personnel selection), but also to the general reader and even writers of fiction and science fiction dealing with small groups in dangerous situations.




5. This is an excellent book to understand the historic human challenges associated with histroic human polar exploration and what will be confronted by future humans bases on the Moon and Mars. The analogs of the past have much to teach us for the future if we take the time to understand the past experience and relate it to what humanity is now seeking to do with a lunar base in the next two decades. The book is exciting, entertaining, and insightful. For any person thinking about the challenges that will confront humans associated with the first permanent human lunar base, this is a must read.

2 comments about Sea of Ice: The Wreck of the Endurance (Step into Reading, Step 4, paper).

1. This book is a very well-written and illustrated introduction to the epic story of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance in their struggle to survive the loss of their ship in the ice. If you know a child who feels put-upon because they don't have the latest model gaming system or the right type of monsters in their card decks, get them to read this, and perhaps it will prove a useful antidote to the ennervating softness of "modern" civilization.



2. Amazing, it was just amazing! I had never read anything like this before. I was surprised with the 22 men surviving on Elephant Island and it was surprising because this happened like a 100 years ago. Monica Kulling is a very fantastic writer. John Edens is a fantastic illustrator. I hope that I could read more of the Shackleton series and I highly recommend it to all kids.

No comments about Berserk in the Antarctic - Sailing to the World's Most Untameable Continent.

No comments about Antarctica Map by ITMB.

No comments about The long way home: after a six-month voyage to Antarctica, filled with unexpected challenges and tragedy, the crew of the CGC Polar Star find themselves ... ...: An article from: Coast Guard Magazine.

1 comments about The Whaling Season: An Inside Account Of The Struggle To Stop Commercial Whaling.

1. Kieran Mulvaney, an author who has published an extensive list of articles on matters of science and the environment, recounts his adventures and experiences while on expedition to protect whales in this book.
   

   
   After co-founding The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, (originally called The Whale Conservation Society), along with Sean Whyte, Mulvaney embarked upon a life of activism that takes him from his boyhood home typewriter to the frigid seas off Antarctica.
   

   
   As a member of four different whale protection exhibitions, Mulvaney has worked for and alongside members of Greenpeace, encountering some degree of success charting frozen waters, as well as political minefields. Through it all, his mission has remained the same - to protect the whales.
   

   
   An early history of the whaling industry, as well as that of Greenpeace, (originally known as the Don't Make A Wave Committee), is covered extensively. Modern day whaling practices are explained - including ways in which some countries continue to thwart the worldwide ban on whaling practices by claiming they are hunting the mammals for the purpose of science.
   

   
   Written in easy to understand terms (in other words, you don't have to be a biologist to get it), this book is an entertaining and interesting read, although some readers might be offended by the frequent use of colorful language. Especially enjoyable is the passage describing the majesty of icebergs, "I pictured them building up slowly over millions and millions of years and then one day, with a violent, ear-shattering crack, breaking away from the ice shelf and setting off on their own. From that moment they were doomed, destined to erode under the steady assault from wind and waves until nothing was left. . . ancient witnesses of eons past, . . . " Beautifully worded. --Michelle Smith

2 comments about Greetings from Antarctica.

1. This short interesting book gives insight into the day to day lives of scientists stationed in Antarctica as well as explaining some of the types of research that is done there. Overall, this is an excellent book. It only left me with one burning question - who on earth is Daniel?? This is not a good first choice if information is needed to write a report about the continent itself. But for additional information it is a wonderful choice.



2. This book gave Anarctica the personal touch. While most factual books leave a reader with an unreal sense of detachment, this book personalizes and brings us closer to the experience a traveler would have if they visited Antarctica. I loved the account of our author being visited by Emperor penguins and how she described the different kinds of ice to be found there. I was able to get a clearer picture of the place and identify what travel must be like there. I've heard of skidoos and some modes of travel before, now I have some sense of how it feels to use them. The photgraphs enhance the author's account and I am glad to be able to share this book with my students. I learned more about Antarctica from this book and am willing to believe they will too.

No comments about Island at the Edge of the World.

3 comments about Antarctica: Both Heaven and Hell.

1. Messner never gave me a feeling of what it was like crossing Antartica. He went into too much detail on all the problems he had just getting there, but was not very discriptive of life on the ice. I was never drawn into the book and thus did not have much emphathy with the characters. Felt like Messner did more complaining about things than trying to describe the adventure he was on. He complained about his life before the trip, he complained about all the problems he ran into trying to get to Antartica, he complained about his partner during and after his trip, and he complained about there being people at the South Pole. To his credit it probably was hard to write this length of book when the story line was: I got up each morning for 92 days and walked.



2. The story of Reinhold Messner's walk across Antartica might have been more interesting had it been written by a professional author. Messner's first hand accounts, while interesting, do not make for especially good reading. However, there is a huge number of color photographs included that in and of themselves almost make the book worthwhile. Messner is perhaps the most accomplished extreme sportsman in the world. But he would do better letting someone else tell his fantastic stories.



3. This book is very uneven, unfortunately. On one side, photography is splendid, historical and geological discussion are very thorough, the spirit of adventure is live and well. However, I am TIRED to find Messner complaining about his partner on every single page. And the translation is so bad, that one can almost study German grammar from the English presented.

   The philosophical expositions in the book kept my feelings mixed as well. On one side (and perhaps this is due to a poor translation) it is full of heavy and sometimes overly sweet German Romanticism; one the other hand, Messner's treatment of the white void in front of him as a meditative medium is very honestly portrayed and splendidly presented.