Book Reviews

摘要

In all ways but one, historians and scientists alike must consider the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition (1933-1935) as one of the most successful of the five associated with Richard E. Byrd. It had 15 more participants on the ice (not counting the three dairy cows or the dogs) than his first in 1928-1930. Its success in using motorised carriers, airplanes (even an early helicopter), and radio for communication of field parties to base heralded more clearly than BAE I the coming of the mechanised era of polar exploration. As a whole, Byrd's men and equipment succeeded in adding much to the scientific knowledge of Antarctica. For the first time, seismic equipment succeeded in measuring the thickness of ice of the Ross Ice Shelf and on the Rockefeller Plateau. Lichens discovered and collected by the field parties in Marie Byrd Land and notably on Scott Glacier proved to be the first form of life so far south. Among the geographical discoveries were that no strait existed between the Ross and Weddell seas, and new peaks of the Queen Maud Mountains, the Rockefeller Mountains, and the Rockefeller Plateau. Geologists on motorised expeditions garnered evidence that the Ford Ranges had geological ties to the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula. Finally, the story of Admiral Byrd's wintering by himself in a hut in the interior of Antarctica - published as Alone in 1938 - still stands as one of the most thrilling accounts of polar adventure.