If ever there was a geographical region that unites humanity’s twin obsessions with terrestrial exploration and the advancement of science, it is the continent of Antarctica. And if ever there was a book on precisely that relationship it is ‘Land of Wondrous Cold’ (Princeton University Press, £22, ISBN 9780691172200), in which Gillen D’Arcy Wood describes the unfolding drama of the White Continent’s role in plate tectonics, climate change and species evolution, stretching back into deep-time history.
Of course, we came to know of these phenomena largely due to the early exertions of human exploration, most notably in the 19th century, when the likes of James Ross, Dumont D’Urville and Charles Wilkes were simultaneously pushing back the frontiers of both geographical exploration and scientific knowledge.
Subtitled ‘The race to discover Antarctica and unlock the secrets of its ice’, Wood’s latest sensibly addresses the commonly held assumption that Antarctica...