Product Description
An old truism holds that a scientific discovery has three stages: first, people deny it is true; then they deny it is important; finally, they credit the wrong person. Alfred Wegener's "discovery" of continental drift went through each stage with unusual drama. In 1915, when he published his theory that the world's continents had once come together in a single landmass before splitting apart and drifting to their current positions, the world's geologists denied and scorned it. The scientific establishment's rejection of continental drift and plate tectonic theory is a story told often and well. Yet, there is an untold side to Wegener's life: he and his famous father-in-law, Wladimir Koppen (a climatologist whose classification of climates is still in use), became fascinated with climates of the geologic past. In the early 20th century Wegener made four expeditions to the then-uncharted Greenland icecap to gather data about climate variations (Greenland ice-core sampling continues to this day). Ending in Ice is about Wegener's explorations of Greenland, blending the science of ice ages and Wegener's continental drift measurements with the story of Wegener's fatal expedition trying to bring desperately needed food and fuel to workers at the central Greenland ice station of Eismitte in 1930. Arctic exploration books with tragic endings have become all too common, but this book combines Wegener's fatal adventures in Greenland with the relevant science--now more important than ever as global climate change becomes movie-worthy ("The Day After Tomorrow"). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Alfred Wegener was a remarkable man...
Alfred Wegener was a remarkable man, ahead of his time in many ideas and concepts. This book is a wonderful, yet tragic, tale of his life and work. As an explorer he was like a child, wide eyed and excited; but as a scientist he was cool and collected. The combination of the two created a man of substance, one that I would liked to have met.

Well informed, well written, and hard to put down
There are two threads in this excellent but oddly titled little volume: How Alfred Wegener proposed continental drift two generations before the idea was accepted, and how he led the German meteorological expeditions to Greenland in the interwar years, expeditions that were successful despite ending in Wegener's death.

It turns out there were good reasons to reject Wegener's drift hypothesis. Almost all his details were wrong. He thought the continents somehow picked up and walked across the crust; he thought - due to measurement errors - that North America had separated from Europe 10,000 years ago.

Fortunately this book ably illuminates how the relevant science eventually came together. Continental drift makes no sense without plate tectonics, a notion developed when finally new evidence revealed the mid-ocean ridge building and the magnetic reversals encoded in the spreading new crust. There are several related discussions in this book, especially interesting the development of the orbital pertubation theory as a cause of the ice ages. (The groundbreaking Milutin Milankovic theory).
It did not help Wegener either that he was educated as an astronomer, practiced meteorology, and published about paleogeology!

As for the Greenland caper, this is a captivating account of what went wrong (not so much what went right - it's not about meteorology). A simple misunderstanding led to the catastrophic winter resupply mission to the central station, Eismitte. Good God! they should have had a radio there. And an airplane!

I think most of this has not been readily available in English, though of course in German. McCoy draws heavily on the Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, and, for photos, amusingly, on Fristrup's forty year old book on the Greenland Ice Cap.

One could read this book as a case study in how scientific genius and crackpotism play tag. Wegener's core insight was true; but he had no credible evidence. An argument for open minds!

Kontinentalverschiebung = geopoetry?
"Doesn't the east coast of South America fit exactly against the west coast of Africa, as if they had once been joined? This is an idea I'll have to pursue." So wrote Alfred Wegener in 1910 to his future wife.

Pursue the idea Wegener did, in four major books and a number of lectures. (See especially the fourth edition: The Origin of Continents and Oceans.) Wegener's thesis: fossil and geological evidence clearly showed the continents were once connected, the current theory was based on land bridges that sank into the ocean, these bridges would have had to float up again since they were denser than the ocean floors, and the only logical alternative was that the continents themselves had been joined and had since drifted apart.

Leading scientists were highly skeptical:

"Utter, damned rot!" "If we are to believe this hypothesis, we must forget everything we have learned in the last 70 years and start all over again." Anyone who "valued his reputation for scientific sanity" would never dare support such a theory. The American Petroleum Society held a conference to demolish the theory. The oceanic crust was too firm for the continents "simply to plow through".

Roger M. McCoy has written a wonderful biography describing Wegener's development of his theory of continental drift, and its triumphant acceptance 30 years after his death. McCoy also describes the accomplishments of Else Wegener in the years after Wegener's death (she died in 1992 at the age of 100). She wrote about her husband's work, including a book of his "diaries, letters and her own memories".

McCoy also describes Wegener's accomplishments in climatology and ice age studies, in particular his four expeditions to the Greenland icecap to gather data about climate variations. Wegener was a record-holding balloonist, and he pioneered the use of weather balloons to track air masses.

In 1912, his four-man expedition "escaped death only by a miracle" while climbing a suddenly calving glacier on the northeast coast of Greenland, then became the first to overwinter on the ice cap. The following spring, they made the longest crossing of the Greenland ice sheet, a traverse of 750 miles. His objective was scientific knowledge; he was the first to trace storm tracks over the ice cap.

On his fourth trip, Wegener led a large group of scientists and technicians to Greenland in 1930. Wegener planned to establish three observation posts at latitude 71 degrees North, one on the western edge of the ice, one on the eastern edge, and one at mid-ice. The expedition went badly from the beginning (McCoy's descriptions have a wonderfully suspenseful character), and the party was over two months late in establishing the mid-ice camp, "Eismitte," on July 30. Eismitte was 250 miles inland at an elevation of 9,850 feet. (The eastern station was established later, by a separate party that landed on the east coast.)

By mid-September, only a small portion of the supplies necessary for Eismitte had arrived. Wegener had written his brother about his "obligation to be a hero." On September 21 Wegener led a 15-dogsled run to relieve Eismitte. Bad weather resulted in the group covering only 38.5 miles in a week; Wegener wrote it was now "a matter of life and death" for his friends at Eismitte. Wegener and two companions continued on for another 32 days, and found that Georgi and Sorge, the two scientists stationed there, had been able to dig an ice cave for shelter and had enough supplies for the winter. Wegener's relief trip had been unnecessary.

Wegener "looked as fresh, happy and fit as if he had just been for a walk. He was fired with enthusiasm and ready to tackle anything." Rasmus Villumsen, the 22-year-old Greenlander who had accompanied them, was also in good shape. On November 1, the group celebrated Wegener's 50th birthday. Supplies were short so Wegener and Villumsen with the wind now at their backs set off to return to base camp. Neither man survived the journey.

McCoy tells the entire story of Wegener's life in clear language. One cannot help but be impressed with Wegener's dedication to science and to his wonderful accomplishments. Alfred Wegener has found the biographer he deserves.


Robert C. Ross 2008 ... Read more

Product Description
Text in German. Includes color and black and white photographs of Northeast Greenand. ... Read more

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Italian translation of Thomas Salmon's Modern History. Vol VIII ONLY. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Literary Collections / Letters; Science / Earth Sciences / Geography; Travel / Europe / Iceland ... Read more

Product Description
This text is in Danish. The mountains and fjords of Greenland preserve a record of nearly four billion years of Earth history - a story of mountain building, volcanic eruptions, primitive life and ice ages. During this vast period of time, through processes of continental drift, Greenland has journeyed from the southern hemisphere through the tropics to its present polar position. This volume presents an account of the geological evolution of Greenland, together with its mineral wealth and hydrocarbon potential. It is written in a form that is aimed at the general reader with an interest in the dramatic history of our planet. ... Read more

Product Description
The analysis of polar ice cores has proven to be very instructive about past environmental conditions on the time scale of several climatic cycles, and recent drilling operations have provided information of great value for global change issues. The book presents the most recent data extracted from Greenland ice cores and surface experiments and compares them with former Antarctic results. It contains background articles, original contributions and group reports of interest to scientists, climatologists, atmospheric chemists, and glaciologists involved in global change research. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Vollmann - quick and bloody
Fast-paced story of the discovery of Vinland by the Vikings in the 13th century.A good follow-up to Beowulf, keeps you in the period and offers a great measure of Native American mythology as well as the struggles of dealing with a new ideology (Christianity) supplanting the heathen gods of one's ancestors.Fairly quick and a great winter read.

Whirlpool-Lives, Dead Worlds, Voyages Across the Frozen Sea
and "White Sweet Clover": These are a few menu items off of Vollmann's eclectic introductory Preview for his on-going SEVEN DREAMS septology ABOUT OUR CONTINENT IN THE DAYS OF THE SUN.

The Ice Shirt is laced with Norse Sagas and Viking history. It is a modern re-telling of the very first encounter between Europeans and Native North Americans (no, it was not Columbus - it was Leif Ericson who "discovered" America). Actually, as Vollmann relates, it was Bjarni Herjolfsson who first sighted "Vinland" around 986 AD, and by 1000 AD Leif and his fellow Norsemen built settlements on what today is known as Newfoundland. It was all undone, fairly rapidly, by the same forces which brought them there, and especially through the wicked conduit of Leif's own bastard sister, Freydis Eiriksdottir, who truly "brought the frost" to North America.

Beyond a post-modern recreation of myth and history, William Vollmann adds his own contemporary experiences while traveling in the lands he intimately describes. The Ice Shirt is very much a book about the land itself, and Vollmann spends great amounts of time and care writing about the local flora, fauna, and how it relates to the people themselves. The "shirts", as you will see, are our personas, and spirits. They are "the change" in change, and it is the SPIRIT of the lands which Vollmann captures, and the manner in which he blends this together with his own street-level point of view, I think, which makes this an intriguing modern day Saga. Now, it's quite possible after reading this book that you'll disagree with me and think Vollmann over-rated, or perhaps even an "awful" writer, but I bet it would be based on your taste in literature rather than the real quality or scope of the work itself; because this undertaking of his, as far as I know is unprecedented, and will surely one day be considered masterful. At first, because Vollmann came very highly recommended to me about a decade ago, I felt I had to force myself through the first 70 pages or so, namely because I've never read anyone quite like this before and his post-modernist style can take a little getting used to depending on one's reading experience. In addition, the first part of The Ice Shirt (and thus, his whole series) is a lengthy tome on Viking blood feuds, revenge, massacres, political assassinations, executions, raping and pillaging, etc. etc. - with no end in sight - making it a little trying for the unconverted. Because it is all written in saga-like style, this whole section entitled "The Changers" could easily be mistaken for one of the original Viking sagas. What's great about The Ice Shirt (and Vollmann), as I discovered while reading, is that the book is not pedantic or high-brow in any way. Sometimes subject-matter like this comes across in history books as being overly specialized, complex, and erudite because the writer has some agenda to push, or something to prove; or maybe is just trying to write a scholarly work. Blah! The Ice Shirt & THE SEVEN DREAMS is something new, different, and original. The scope seems outlandishly unwieldy, but somehow Vollmann manages to keep it all glued together.When you come across passages entitled "San Francisco Transvestites - 1987" sandwiched between "The Storm, the Spirit and the Island" and "The Woman Shirt" you'll see what I mean. There are plenty of informative source notes in which the author tells you exactly what he's up to, and then there are hand-drawn maps to guide you further, glossaries filled with people and places, and a chronology for good measure, so that you don't get too lost. And yet it all works! That's the amazing thing.

Perhaps you, like me knew of Vollmann's reputation as a trendy, avant-garde writer of prostitutes and grimy street life. And also like me, were put off by this. For this very reason it took me ten years to give this book a shot (if you see my reviews for all of 2004, this is the Capstone). In fact, if you look you'll find some funny and interesting comments from various reviewers who've struggled with his other books - some of the comments which I tended to agree with at first. For example, from "The Atlas" on 3/2/02: "Self-Conciously Avant Garde"; "Beauty in Ugliness"; "Great Ideas in Books". From "The Royal Family" on 12/29/03: "An Interesting Waste of Time". And one of my favorites from 4/6/02 about "Argall", because I agreed with it ten years ago: "Vollmann's Career-Revenge of the Nerd" in which the reviewer harps on the whole Vollmann phenomenon. Finally, from the Ice Shirt reviews on 9/13/98 comes one which states: "Not Sure What it's About, But it Ain't a Novel!". Well, sir, I suppose that all depends on your notion of what a "novel" is. So, before beginning this series I needed to forget the reputation of the man, the phenomenon hype, and just get to the work itself, which always intrigued me: A Symbolic History of North America. (But of course, it's a little harder to forget that the guy writing all this had been known for his lurid, hard-hitting stories on drugs, sex, gangs, and prostituties!).

Having done so at last, I can now say that I'm very pleased with The Ice Shirt; and am now hooked on THE SEVEN DREAMS! While Vollmann does have a wildly crazy bio, and some fascinating news and magazine articles, not to mention a massive research project on Violence called "Rising Up, Rising Down" as well as another lengthy foray into SF street life titled "The Royal Family" which I understand is the third in a so-called "Prostitution Trilogy" . . . I leave it to you, new reader, to come to The Ice Shirt with an open mind about what a novel is and isn't, and of course, an interest in a deeper understanding of what it means to be a North American. Ultimately, that's what this book is about, and it stands on its own as such. I am already on my way into "FATHER'S & CROWS" (vol. 2), and look forward to "ARGALL" (vol. 3), THE RIFLES (vol. 6), and the as yet unpublished volumes 4, 5, & 7 - all dealing with North American Indians at various times and tribulations.

Great Work of Our Time
I cannot say enough good things about this work.The balances between travel diary, historical information, and fictional account are just perfect.That being said please do not take me for a disciple of Vollmann.I usually find his work on prostitutes and drugs a little boring.The Ice Shirt on the other hand stripped much of the modern "sins" out and left truly moral questions in their place.The work as a whole is an important examination of what is America, who we are, and how we fit into history.On a smaller scale, it is about change and belief.I would suggest this work to anyone interested in reading a good book, be it fiction or otherwise.

History & Myth, a Nordic Adventure of Changes
This was the first Vollmann novel I've ever read, but I may just try another one before all is said and done. The book starts out focusing on norse mythology and legend and leads up to the adventure of Leif Erikson's sisters to Vineland (later the Americas). Interspersed between the history/legend are snippits of a modern iceland/greenland that reflects much of the norms set forth in the more historical portions of the piece. A main theme in the novel seems to be change. This is largely reflected in what "shirt" (or serk) a character is wearing and the change in character based on goals. There is also a sort of sad lesson about the "Skraelings" (or perhaps Eskimos/natives/Indians) and their ultimate demise as a race but passing on of noble traits "definitely not acquired from European teachers...." A good read, but a little confusing at first.

too big in scope to describe
I just finished this novel after a month of intense reading and, in my opinion, it comes close to literary perfection. I can't wait to read Fathers & Crows. The sheer epic brilliance of the scope of this novel (and the following dreams) is bigger than The Blue Shirt. It exceeds Freydis's desire to plant frost-seed. This series won't be forgotten.
But be warned: this book is not for everyone. Suspension of disbelief and the ability to immerse one's mind into strange and inspiring places is necessary. Vollmann will leave you breathless with fatique, and sometimes you will love the world while other times you will despise it.
Buy this book and keep it close. It's always good to get another's perspective. ... Read more