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Journeys to the Polar Regions in Search of Life, the Cosmos, and Our Future
by Neil Shubin
The bestselling author of Your Inner Fish takes readers on an epic adventure to the North and South Poles to reveal the secrets locked in the ice about life, the cosmos, and our planet's future.
Renowned scientist Neil Shubin has made extraordinary discoveries by leading scientific expeditions to the sweeping ice landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic. He's survived polar storms, traveled in temperatures that can freeze flesh in seconds, and worked hundreds of miles from the nearest humans, all to deepen our understanding of our world.
Written with infectious enthusiasm and irresistible curiosity, Ends of the Earth blends travel writing, science, and history in a book brimming with surprising and wonderful discoveries. Shubin retraces his steps on a "dinosaur dance floor," showing us where these beasts had populated the once tropical lands at the poles. He takes readers meteor hunting, as meteorites preserved in the ice can be older than our planet and can tell us about our galaxy's formation. Readers also encounter insects and fish that develop their own anti-freeze, and aquatic life in ancient lakes hidden miles under the ice that haven't seen the surface in centuries. It turns out that explorers and scientists have found these extreme environments as prime ground for making scientific breakthroughs across a vast range of knowledge.
Shubin shares unforgettable moments from centuries of expeditions to reveal just how far scientists will go to understand polar regions. In the end, what happens at the poles does not stay in the poles—the ends of the earth offer profound stories that will forever change our view of life and the entire planet.
"In this dazzling report, Shubin, a biology professor at the University of Chicago, examines what the Earth's poles reveal about the planet and the universe... Shubin offers hair-raising accounts of his own polar voyages...This enlightens and amazes." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Enlightening and often, well, chilling, Shubin's evaluation of the polar world masterfully merges discovery, appreciation, and concern." —Booklist (starred review)
"The world offers two vast laboratories: the Arctic, most specifically Greenland, and the Antarctic… There are plenty of surprises to discover in both places [in this] accessible, nontechnical narrative." —Kirkus Reviews
"In the hands of an expert storyteller and brilliant biologist, the topics of ice and the polar regions becomes a fast-moving, fascinating book that combines travelogue and natural science discovery. From encountering the arctic wooly bear caterpillars and hearty tardigrades to polar fish that manufacture their own 'anti-freeze,' I found Ends of the Earth to be a delightful and compelling read." —Dr. Daniel J. Levitin, New York Times bestselling author of I Heard There Was a Secret Chord and Successful Aging
"What a remarkable planet we live on—wildest at its cold and lovely poles. This compelling volume should summon us to defend that cold, the vital task for our time on earth." —Bill McKibben, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Nature
This information about Ends of the Earth was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
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Photo: John Weinstein
Neil Shubin is the author of two popular science books, The Universe Within (2013) and the best-selling Your Inner Fish (2008), which was chosen by the National Academy of Sciences as the best book of the year in 2009. Trained at Columbia, Harvard, and the University of California at Berkeley, Shubin is the Robert Bensley Distinguished Service Professor and Associate Dean of Biological Sciences at the University of Chicago. In 2011 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
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