Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica, by Sara Wheeler. Random House, 1996. 351 pp. 0-679-44078-X.
... in which a travel writer spends seven months living and working in Antarctica.
This is the first of a pile of books that I have to read, all centered around the Arctic and Antarctic. For Terra Incognita, Sara Wheeler, a British travel writer and biographer, got a grant to spend a summer in Antarctica as part of a writers' program. She spends about six months in Antarctica through the Antarctic summer (approximately October through March), and then returned to spend an additional month (August) there at the tail end of the Antarctica winter. While she is there, she spend her time moving between various bases and field camps, traveling with different kinds of scientists, and generally absorbing the culture associated with the most desolate continent on Earth.
The interesting thing about Antarctica is that it does not belong to one single nation, and is the only place on Earth that is totally devoted to science and learning. The Antarctic Treaty, first established in 1961, establishes everything south of 60 degrees S as a scientific preserve, owned by no nations and belonging to all. Multiple countries have their own established research bases, at various points on the Antarctic continent, with the largest base being McMurdo Station, operated by the USA. Wheeler makes McMurdo her first stop, and for most of her time in Antarctica, it serves as her base station. From here, she leaves on smaller excursions to go with scientists to study penguins, ice chemistry, ice physics, Antarctic geology, astronomy, weather, climate and atmosphere, fish, bacteria... you name it. Throughout her journey, she not only describes the science taking place, but also the scientists, the support staff, and the culture at each location. She also discusses the history of Antarctic exploration, including famous explorers like Captain Cook, Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton, and the British hero Robert Falcon Scott.
The book is separated into three sections, each detailing a part of her journey. The first part, The Antarctic Continent, covers the period of time when she was based at McMurdo, which is on the side of Antarctica closest to New Zealand. In this part of the book, Wheeler is welcomed with open arms and visits more research sites and meets more people than at any other point in the book.
The second part covers her time on the Antarctic Peninsula. For those unfamiliar with south pole geography, the Antarctic Peninsula is closer to South America. To get from McMurdo to the peninsula, it was necessary for Wheeler to fly from McMurdo, Antarctic to New Zealand, and then to London, and then to the Falkland Islands (off the southern tip of South America) and then back to Antarctica, this time on the peninsula side. Interestingly, the culture on this part of the continent is strikingly different; very much a boys' club, she finds herself being something of an outcast among the men who resent her presence.
The final part of the book covers her return to Antarctica during the southern hemisphere winter, in August. Arriving at the end of winter, Wheeler meets a woman who is there to paint watercolors of the sea ice and the glaciers. The two of them establish their own small research camp, about twelve miles from McMurdo, devoted to the arts, rather than the sciences.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Travel writing can sometimes be hard to wade through, if the author is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, Wheeler does a great job filling the book with her interesting observations and her sly sense of humor. She blends her experiences with the historical parts of the book well, so that we get historical context for each location that she visits. She also does a good job describing the people and activities in Antarctica, describing how people live and the experiments that go on there.
The book could have benefited from a few pages of pictures. I would have liked to have seen some photos of what the camps and bases look like, and I certainly enjoy photos of penguins and glaciers! The book also could have really benefited from the inclusion of some larger maps, maybe a pull-out. The maps that are included in the book are small and require a lot of flipping back and forth if you want to consult them. My final complaint is that I would have liked to have seen even more historical background... I really enjoyed reading about the old expeditions to Antarctica.
Recommended reading for people who enjoy travel writing, or who have an interest in life at the poles.
4/5 stars
Showing posts with label time travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time travel. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
The Dechronization of Sam Magruder, by George G. Simpson
The Dechronization of Sam Magruder, by George Gaylord Simpson. St. Martin's Griffin, 1996. 136 pp. 0-312015514-X.
... in which a scientist from the future accidentally slips in time and ends up in the Cretaceous.
Every now and then, one reads a book that makes the reader simultaneously feel very smart and somewhat stupid. This book is one of those. Written by one of the most celebrated paleontologists to ever live, this novel has an impressive scientific pedigree that's apparent just from reading the author's name on the cover. In addition, the book has an introduction by Arthur C. Clarke (!!!), and an afterword by Stephen Jay Gould (!!!!!!!!!). I don't think you could cram much more nerd/intellectual street cred into a book of this length. So, just by reading a book with these three names on the cover, one automatically feels smart.
The book is really a story within a story. The "outer" story, if you will, involves a group of scholars in the very far distant future. These scholars have no names, and are instead given titles like the Universal Historian, the Pragmatist, the Ethnologist, the Common Man, etc. These scholars are sitting around discussing the curious discovery of stone tablets from the Cretaceous. These stone tablets were engraved with the writings of a man who "slipped" back in time from the year 2162 to 80 MYA. The story within the story, or the "inner" story, is of course the text of these stone tablets.
The scientist who "slipped" is called Sam Magruder, and he was a chronologist, ie, an expert in the study of time. At the time of his accident, he was attempting to differentiate between the concept of linear time vs time-as-a-particle. The Universal Historian describes his studies as the "two time universes. One has motion but is without time dimensions or growth. The other is motionless but has a single dimension and grows steadily in one direction within that dimension" (11). This is where the "this book makes me feel dumb" part comes in, because I had to reread the two pages explaining the time universes multiple times before I really understood it. If you have a good understanding of physics, you might understand it this way: the time-motion universe is akin to the Eulerian description of motion in physics, and the motionless time universe is somewhat more like the Lagrangian description of motion. Sort of. Lagrangian and Eulerian descriptions of motion explained here.
Anyway, so Sam Magruder accidentally finds himself slipping from his lab to a swamp in the Cretaceous. Of course, the time slip only affected Sam himself, and not his clothes, so he not only has to find a way to eat and avoid being eaten, he has to clothe himself and generally keep himself healthy. He knows that there is no way for him to return to his original timeline, so in the interest of science, he records his life in the Cretaceous on stone slabs and hopes that at some point in the future, they will be discovered.
One of the more interesting aspects in the story is how Dr. Simpson's history as a paleontologist really shines through. It is clear that the story is being written by someone who really knows dinosaurs, and knows their anatomy. For the most part, Sam's story reads as a sort of scientific narrative: these are the dinosaurs I have seen, this is what they look like, this is how I avoided being eaten by them. However, in the second-to-last chapter, Sam finds himself pondering some small rodent-like mammals and contemplates himself playing God by selectively breeding them and hopefully speeding up the evolutionary processes that would eventually lead to modern-day mammals. This leads to what is probably the best little bit of text in the whole book:
The biggest drawback to the book is not really Dr. Simpson's fault. The book was found in his notes by his daughter, who was going through his notes after her father's death. The majority of the story was probably written in the 70s, but between Dr. Simpson's death in 1984 and the time of the book's publication, a lot changed in the field of paleontology. For example, Sam describes the dinosaurs as being incontrovertibly exothermic, ie cold-blooded, when the modern-day general consensus is that dinosaurs were probably at least partially endothermic. There are a few other spots where his knowledge is a little dated, particularly in the nomenclature for certain dinosaurs, but none that really take away from the plot.
The previously mentioned introduction and afterword by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Jay Gould are really integral to the reading of this book. Clarke does a remarkable job writing the introduction, making it a discussion of time travel in fiction and reality. Dr. Gould, who was one of the world's most celebrated paleontologists and evolutionary biologists in his own right, wrote a remarkable afterword, discussing the roles of fiction in science, and the dinosaurs, evolutionary theory, and philosophy seen in the book.
Definitely a recommended read, particularly for anyone with an interest in time travel stories, evolution and dinosaurs, or just good old-fashioned science fiction.
5/5 stars.
... in which a scientist from the future accidentally slips in time and ends up in the Cretaceous.
Every now and then, one reads a book that makes the reader simultaneously feel very smart and somewhat stupid. This book is one of those. Written by one of the most celebrated paleontologists to ever live, this novel has an impressive scientific pedigree that's apparent just from reading the author's name on the cover. In addition, the book has an introduction by Arthur C. Clarke (!!!), and an afterword by Stephen Jay Gould (!!!!!!!!!). I don't think you could cram much more nerd/intellectual street cred into a book of this length. So, just by reading a book with these three names on the cover, one automatically feels smart.
The book is really a story within a story. The "outer" story, if you will, involves a group of scholars in the very far distant future. These scholars have no names, and are instead given titles like the Universal Historian, the Pragmatist, the Ethnologist, the Common Man, etc. These scholars are sitting around discussing the curious discovery of stone tablets from the Cretaceous. These stone tablets were engraved with the writings of a man who "slipped" back in time from the year 2162 to 80 MYA. The story within the story, or the "inner" story, is of course the text of these stone tablets.
The scientist who "slipped" is called Sam Magruder, and he was a chronologist, ie, an expert in the study of time. At the time of his accident, he was attempting to differentiate between the concept of linear time vs time-as-a-particle. The Universal Historian describes his studies as the "two time universes. One has motion but is without time dimensions or growth. The other is motionless but has a single dimension and grows steadily in one direction within that dimension" (11). This is where the "this book makes me feel dumb" part comes in, because I had to reread the two pages explaining the time universes multiple times before I really understood it. If you have a good understanding of physics, you might understand it this way: the time-motion universe is akin to the Eulerian description of motion in physics, and the motionless time universe is somewhat more like the Lagrangian description of motion. Sort of. Lagrangian and Eulerian descriptions of motion explained here.
Anyway, so Sam Magruder accidentally finds himself slipping from his lab to a swamp in the Cretaceous. Of course, the time slip only affected Sam himself, and not his clothes, so he not only has to find a way to eat and avoid being eaten, he has to clothe himself and generally keep himself healthy. He knows that there is no way for him to return to his original timeline, so in the interest of science, he records his life in the Cretaceous on stone slabs and hopes that at some point in the future, they will be discovered.
One of the more interesting aspects in the story is how Dr. Simpson's history as a paleontologist really shines through. It is clear that the story is being written by someone who really knows dinosaurs, and knows their anatomy. For the most part, Sam's story reads as a sort of scientific narrative: these are the dinosaurs I have seen, this is what they look like, this is how I avoided being eaten by them. However, in the second-to-last chapter, Sam finds himself pondering some small rodent-like mammals and contemplates himself playing God by selectively breeding them and hopefully speeding up the evolutionary processes that would eventually lead to modern-day mammals. This leads to what is probably the best little bit of text in the whole book:
I have a fair smattering of genetics and of practical animal breeding, learned in citizenship school before I specialized as a chronologist. I toyed long with the idea of selectively breeding the little mammals. I knew their tremendous possibilities, and I have no doubt that I could have speeded up their evolution, perhaps by some millions of years. But for what good? They have the spark, themselves. They are going to make it. Their descendants will be men, and they'll get there under their own power. Interference from one of those same descendants, even as a boost along the way, is not necessary. It would, in fact, be sacrilege. What is holy in mankind is that mankind, through this little beast, and so many others, has created itself. p 102.
The biggest drawback to the book is not really Dr. Simpson's fault. The book was found in his notes by his daughter, who was going through his notes after her father's death. The majority of the story was probably written in the 70s, but between Dr. Simpson's death in 1984 and the time of the book's publication, a lot changed in the field of paleontology. For example, Sam describes the dinosaurs as being incontrovertibly exothermic, ie cold-blooded, when the modern-day general consensus is that dinosaurs were probably at least partially endothermic. There are a few other spots where his knowledge is a little dated, particularly in the nomenclature for certain dinosaurs, but none that really take away from the plot.
The previously mentioned introduction and afterword by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Jay Gould are really integral to the reading of this book. Clarke does a remarkable job writing the introduction, making it a discussion of time travel in fiction and reality. Dr. Gould, who was one of the world's most celebrated paleontologists and evolutionary biologists in his own right, wrote a remarkable afterword, discussing the roles of fiction in science, and the dinosaurs, evolutionary theory, and philosophy seen in the book.
Definitely a recommended read, particularly for anyone with an interest in time travel stories, evolution and dinosaurs, or just good old-fashioned science fiction.
5/5 stars.
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