Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Gavin Francis spent fourteen months as a medical doctor 'wintering' in Halley Base, a profoundly isolated research station on the Caird Coast of Antarctica. Attracted by the prospect of solitude and silence -- the base is unreachable for ten months of the year -- it also a rare opportunity to explore the world of the Emperor penguin, the only species truly at home in the Antarctic. As the group of 64 base members narrows down to a core of 14, we move through the year -- from the months of constant sunshine to the three and half months of starlight, and explore the moods and manners of Antarctic living. Among the cold, ice and blankness of the landscape, the legends and myths of Shackleton, Scott, Wilson and Cherry-Garrard loom large, and Francis weaves a discursive and edifying train of thought from characters such as Emerson, Coleridge, Gandhi, Gilbert White, and Pliny, exploring the physical and mental hardship of living at temperatures of -50°C, and the unexpected reassurance and comfort that the penguin community brings in this desolate yet awe-inspiring landscape.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Previews available in: English
Subjects
Natural history, Travel, Description and travel, Antarctica, pictorial works, Natural history, antarctica, Penguins, Art, Emperor penguinPeople
Gavin FrancisPlaces
AntarcticaShowing 4 featured editions. View all 4 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1
Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence and Emperor Penguins
2014, Counterpoint Press
in English
1619023407 9781619023406
|
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
2
Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence, and Emperor Penguins
2013, Counterpoint Press
in English
1619022591 9781619022591
|
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
3 |
cccc
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
4
Empire Antarctica: ice, silence & emperor penguins
2012, Chatto & Windus
in English
0701186895 9780701186890
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Source records
Internet Archive item recordBetter World Books record
Better World Books record
Promise Item
harvard_bibliographic_metadata record
Work Description
Describes the author's time working as a basecamp doctor at Antarctica's Halley research station and his fascination with the emperor penguin community that shared the icy continent with him.
Francis fulfilled a lifetime's ambition when he spent fourteen months as the basecamp doctor at Halley, a profoundly isolated British research station on the Caird Coast of Antarctica. It was a year of unparalleled silence and solitude, with few distractions and a very little human history, but also a rare opportunity to live among emperor penguins, the only species truly at home in the Antarctic. Francis explores the world of great beauty conjured from the simplest of elements, the hardship of living at 50c below zero and the unexpected comfort that the penguin community bring.
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?August 24, 2024 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
December 17, 2022 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
October 5, 2021 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
August 14, 2021 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
May 23, 2019 | Created by MARC Bot | import new book |