The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica

Jo-Anne Mary Benson, the former book review columnist for Ottawa Parent
magazine, is an Ottawa-based freelance editor and writer.

Stephen J. Pyne, a professor of history and the author of several other
books (including World Fire: The Culture of Fire on Earth), is an
environmental historian with an interest in the history of exploration
and the history of science. After applying for an Antarctic Fellowship
in the early 1980s, he spent three months on the continent. His passion
for Antarctica is clearly evident in this definitive work.

In addition to analyzing various elements of ice terrane (including the
pack, the shelf, the glacier, and the sheet), the author addresses such
topics as the earth sciences and geopolitics of Antarctica. At times,
casual readers may find themselves overwhelmed by the wealth of detail
Pyne presents (for example, he lists some 100 terms relating to
ice—everything from bergy bits and frazil ice to ice veins and glacier
bergs). That said, The Ice is an impressive work, one enhanced by a
beautiful cover photograph and a selection of quotes by writers and
explorers, including Tennyson, Poe, Byrd, and Cook.