Ng Destinations, Antarctica the Last Continent

by National Geographic Society

Book Overview

National Geographic launches a new series--Destinations--that takes readers to some of the world's most fascinating locales for an intimate, "you-are-there" portrait, featuring informative text,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0792270614
• ISBN13: 9780792270614
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: National Geographic Society
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Best book on Antarctica I've read

I've been fascinated with Antarctica for some time now, and I recently acquired several books on the continent after seeing the Boston Museum of Science Omni Show, "Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure." Of those books, this is clearly the best. It provides information on the geography and topography of Antarctica, a history of South Pole explorations, and information on the wildlife that populates the coasts. The pictures are far superior to any other book I've read. The writing is concise and easy to understand. It is a truly amazing book--the pictures alone are worth the cost.

Awesome.

When I needed reference material on Antarctica for fact-checking my next suspense novel, I turned to this National Geographic classic. I expected the usual fare: extraordinary photography and a few pertinent bits of data. My expectations were exceeded.The volume is divided into four sections. The first covers the physical geography, a litany of world record extremes. The coldest, driest, highest, windiest, least populated, etc. The next touches on the rich heritage of exploration and discovery there, incredible tales of bravery and hardship like those of Shackleton, Scott, and Mawson. You'll want to read more after this primer. The third section is on wildlife, very little of which is land-based. But the surrounding seas and sky are the most fertile and abundant on the planet. Penguins, seals, squid, krill, albatross, whales, algae, and more. The final section is devoted to Antarctica's environmental peril. Kim Heacox simply states the facts here, avoiding the overstatement and wolf-crying that cause such disservice to the environmental movement. The biggest surprise was the quality of writing. My previous exposure to National Geographic was cursory perusal at the dentist's office. This one I read from cover to cover. The writing is simply wonderful. It was the mother lode of information for my next book, and will now rest on my coffee table, proudly displayed for years to come. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

Antarctica - The World Splendors

Kim Heacox shows in his book,Antarctic Value daily way of life in the Southern Antarctica. The writer recounts to us the history of discovery missions sent to this continent,which is characterized by its interesting style with avery wonderful and unique photos taken be these missions. These photos interpret the very nature of hard life over there on the Antarctica. All the pictures tell the story of human,animal,sea life in this continent in splendid and exciting manner. In addition, there are sufficient and helpful remarks about every thing pertinent to Antarctica. of course,the Antarctica enjoys many splendid characteristics in animal and sea life, which make it distinguished and unique in all over the world. There are also many detailed maps about the Antarctica. It is a minimum- size volume distinguished in its subject matter and photos, which are represented in simple and easy manner. N. B.: It should be noted that the success of an geographical/travel guide book depends on the sufficient number of photos available their quality and uniqueness.in this book we find that there are many photos covering all life aspects on this continent. The photos are of high quality and exciting shots which attract your attention to the extent that you would imagine that you would believe that the photos represents one book inside this book. In short this book is recommended for any one who likes to discover this ambiguous area and who can not visit it. Iconsider this book as a reference/easy guide for the wonderful southern Antarctica.