Description: In this vol. of papers on the history of late 19th- and early 20th-century Arctic exploration, the authors have examined the social, cultural, technological, and environmental settings in which exploration endeavors were conceived, carried out, described, and understood by the public. The conference honored the 100th anniversary of Robert E. Peary's historic 1908-09 North Pole Expedition. These papers are a subset of those presented at that gathering in May 2008 and are authored by scholars from various disciplines, incl. English, art history, anthropology, archaeology, history, ethnohistory, and Native Amer. studies. They cast light on aspect of exploration initiatives not examined in most biographies of explorers, official expedition narratives, or overviews of the history of Arctic exploration. Illus.
Brief description: Historian, naturalist, writer and world traveler, Robert McCracken Peck holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton University and a master of arts degree from the Winterthur Program in American Cultural History, University of Delaware. Widely published, Peck is the author of Land of the Eagle: A Natural History of North America, the companion volume to the eight-part BBC/PBS television series of the same title. It was named one of the most notable natural history/science books of the year by the New York Times Book Review. As Senior Fellow of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, he served as chronicler, historian and photographer of many scientific research expeditions around the world. In 1988 a new species of South American frog, one of three he discovered in the upper Amazon basin in Ecuador, was named in his honor.
Review Quotes: "If you are keen to delve deeper into the world of Arctic exploration, interested in a look beyond the cliché of white male explorers struggling in the face of adversity, open to learning more about the role of indigenous people in supporting expeditions, and finding out how our common perception of men in the Arctic was shaped by societal concerns, then this book is for you."--Irina Overeem "Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research"