ANTARCTICA

A riveting mix of science, natural history and adventure travelogue by a truly impressive scientist and writer who brings the unique perspective of having travelled to and across the frozen continent five times.

In this fascinating book, Gabrielle paints a vivid portrait of Antarctica as seen through the eyes not only of scientists but also of explorers, cooks, drivers, bottle-washers and tourists. She spends time at camps throughout the continent, from the unofficial capital of Antarctica - the American base, McMurdo station - to the Russian base, Vostok, at the geomagnetic south pole and officially the coldest, most inaccessible place on Earth, to Concordia station, run jointly by the French and Italians (and where the smell of espresso and fresh baked bread greet you on arrival). Antarctica is also the most alien place on Earth, the only part of our planets where humans could never survive unaided. It is truly like walking on another planet a place where fish have adapted to produce antifreeze in their blood, seals live out the winter swimming non-stop beneath the sea ice, and under-ice waterfalls flow uphill. And yet, for all of its uniqueness, silence, and agelessness, Antarctica also hold clues to the earth's (and our) past and future. In ANTARCTICA, Gabrielle shows how the research that takes place there has fundamentally changed the way we see our world. Gabrielle Walker has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cambridge University and has taught at both Cambridge and Princeton Universities. She is the author of THE HOT TOPIC (with Sir David King), AN OCEAN OF AIR and SNOWBALL EARTH and her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. A consultant to The New Scientist, she contributes frequently to BBC radio and television, writes for many newspapers and magazines, and is currently chief scientist for Xynteo, a Scandinavian company which consults with major companies on developing tools to compete in a low-carbon economy. Gabrielle has also climbed trees in the Amazon rainforest, hooked lava out of a live volcano and has spent several stints at the South Pole. And in her many travels across Antarctica she has probably visited more varied parts of the continent than anyone else alive. When not traveling the globe though, she lives in London and France.