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ettegoom's review against another edition
4.0
This book makes me want to go to Antarctica even more that I already did. I feel like I probably never will get a chance to, but I'd love to.
Some beautiful descriptions and examination of how science works and what it's like to be a woman in science.
Some beautiful descriptions and examination of how science works and what it's like to be a woman in science.
mostlyshanti's review against another edition
3.0
I learned lots from this book and I think Priestley has a valuable perspective. However, it didn't make me obssessed with Antarctica; I could understand why Priestley longed for the seventh continent, but not in a way that made me hungry to be there myself. This book was mostly science writing, but it was pretending to be travel writing. I think Priestley was really let down by her structure here; if she had chosen to weave her three trips to Antarctica together, instead of having them seperately, it would have been easier to draw out big themes. The sections where she does this, like the Deep Time section, are the best part of the book. She could have had a beginning bit where she was like "I went to Antarctica three times..." and explored the context of each trip, then had the big themes in chapters in the middle (sexism! history! identity as an academic! geology! leaving no trace! changing scientific protocols! science cultures as base camps vs field camps! anxiety and questions of belonging!), then ended on her beautiful final day, knowing that she did not need or want to come back. I also felt like the 'hippie childhood' bit and 'being a parent bit' could have been drawn on a bit more consistently throughout the book; reading this felt like constantly seeing loose threads it was possible to tie together, with stumps of stories or anecdotes or people beginning in one place and ending in another. Despite the fact that my uncle has been to Antarctica lots for his oceanographic work, I hadn't understood much of what it was really like to be there in this day and age--I really liked some of her questions of comfort--and loved the sense of camraderie she drew on.
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