The Voyage of the Discovery (Classic Reprint)
The Voyage of the Discovery (Classic Reprint)

Author: Robert Falcon Scott

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-27

Total Pages: 454

ISBN-13: 9781332037827

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Excerpt from The Voyage of the Discovery Strange as it may seem, the greater part of this story had been enacted before I realised that it would devolve on me to narrate it in book form. When first I saw vaguely this unwelcome task before me there was fresh in my mind not only the benefit which we had derived from studying the records of former Polar voyages, but the disappointment which we had sometimes suffered from the insufficient detail which they provided. It appeared to me in consequence that the first object in writing an account of a Polar voyage was the guidance of future voyagers; the first duty of the writer was to his successors. I have done my best to keep this object in view, and I give this explanation because I am conscious that it has led me into descriptive detail which will probably be tiresome to the ordinary reader. As, however, such matter is more or less massed into certain portions of the book, I take comfort from reflecting that the interested reader will have no difficulty in avoiding such parts as he may consider tedious. I have endeavoured to avoid the use of technicalities, but in all cases this has not been possible, as the English language is poor in words descriptive of conditions of ice and snow. I take the opportunity, therefore, of defining some technical words that I have used freely. Neve - the packed snow of a snow-field, an accumulation of minute ice crystals. This word is, of course, well known to mountaineers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus
The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus

Author: Christopher Columbus

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2004-02-05

Total Pages: 458

ISBN-13: 0141920424

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No gamble in history has been more momentous than the landfall of Columbus's ship the Santa Maria in the Americas in 1492 - an event that paved the way for the conquest of a 'New World'. The accounts collected here provide a vivid narrative of his voyages throughout the Caribbean and finally to the mainland of Central America, although he still believed he had reached Asia. Columbus himself is revealed as a fascinating and contradictory figure, fluctuating from awed enthusiasm to paranoia and eccentric geographical speculation. Prey to petty quarrels with his officers, his pious desire to bring Christian civilization to 'savages' matched by his rapacity for gold, Columbus was nonetheless an explorer and seaman of staggering vision and achievement.

The Discovery of Slowness
The Discovery of Slowness

Author: Sten Nadolny

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1997-06-01

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1101658096

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In The Discovery of Slowness, German novelist Sten Nadolny recounts the life of the nineteenth-century British explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). The reader follows Franklin's development from awkward schoolboy and ridiculed teenager to expedition leader, governor of Tasmania, and icon of adventure. Everyone with whom he came into contact sensed that he was a rare man, one who was “out of his time” and who moved to a different, grander beat. That beat eventually led Franklin to sail once more—on his final, fateful voyage—into the Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage. The Discovery of Slowness is both a riveting account of a remarkable and varied life, and a profound and thought-provoking meditation on time.

River of Darkness
River of Darkness

Author: Buddy Levy

Publisher: Diversion Books

Published: 2022-04-05

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1635769205

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The acclaimed author of Labyrinth of Ice charts the legendary sixteenth-century adventurer’s death-defying navigation of the Amazon River. In 1541, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his lieutenant Francisco Orellana searched for La Canela, South America’s rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, “the golden man.” Quickly, the enormous expedition of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, and hunting dogs were decimated through disease, starvation, and attacks in the jungle. Hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, Pizarro and Orellana made the fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men continued into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon jungle and river. Theirs would be the greater glory. Interweaving historical accounts with newly uncovered details, Levy reconstructs Orellana’s journey as the first European to navigate the world’s largest river. Every twist and turn of the powerful Amazon holds new wonders and the risk of death. Levy gives a long-overdue account of the Amazon’s people—some offering sustenance and guidance, others hostile, subjecting the invaders to gauntlets of unremitting attacks and signs of terrifying rituals. Violent and beautiful, noble and tragic, River of Darkness is riveting history and breathtaking adventure that will sweep readers on a voyage unlike any other. Praise for Buddy Levy and River of Darkness “In River of Darkness, Buddy Levy recounts Orellana’s headlong dash down the Amazon. Like Mr. Levy’s last book, Conquistador, about the conquest of Mexico, River of Darkness presents a fast-moving tale of triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. . . . Though impromptu, the expedition was one of the most amazing adventures of all time.” —Wall Street Journal “An exciting, well-plotted excursion down the Amazon River with the early Spanish conquistador. . . . [A] richly textured account of the rogue, rebel and visionary whose discovery still resonates today.” —Kirkus Reviews “A rollicking adventure . . . Levy successfully conveys the Amazon’s power and majesty, while shedding light on the futility of humanity’s attempt to tame it.” —The A.V. Club

Telling Our Way to the Sea
Telling Our Way to the Sea

Author: Aaron Hirsh

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2013-08-06

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1429947934

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A luminous and revelatory journey into the science of life and the depths of the human experience By turns epic and intimate, Telling Our Way to the Sea is both a staggering revelation of unraveling ecosystems and a profound meditation on our changing relationships with nature—and with one another. When the biologists Aaron Hirsh and Veronica Volny, along with their friend Graham Burnett, a historian of science, lead twelve college students to a remote fishing village on the Sea of Cortez, they come upon a bay of dazzling beauty and richness. But as the group pursues various threads of investigation—ecological and evolutionary studies of the sea, the desert, and their various species of animals and plants; the stories of local villagers; the journals of conquistadors and explorers—they recognize that the bay, spectacular and pristine though it seems, is but a ghost of what it once was. Life in the Sea of Cortez, they realize, has been reshaped by complex human ideas and decisions—the laws and economics of fishing, property, and water; the dreams of developers and the fantasies of tourists seeking the wild; even efforts to retrieve species from the brink of extinction—all of which have caused dramatic upheavals in the ecosystem. It is a painful realization, but the students discover a way forward. After weathering a hurricane and encountering a rare whale in its wake, they come to see that the bay's best chance of recovery may in fact reside in our own human stories, which can weave a compelling memory of the place. Glimpsing the intricate and ever-shifting web of human connections with the Sea of Cortez, the students comprehend anew their own place in the natural world—suspended between past and future, teetering between abundance and loss. The redemption in their difficult realization is that as they find their places in a profoundly altered environment, they also recognize their roles in the path ahead, and ultimately come to see one another, and themselves, in a new light. In Telling Our Way to the Sea, Hirsh's voice resounds with compassionate humanity, capturing the complex beauty of both the marine world he explores and the people he explores it with. Vibrantly alive with sensitivity and nuance, Telling Our Way to the Sea transcends its genre to become literature.

The Ancient Voyage
The Ancient Voyage

Author: William F. Lawhead

Publisher: Cengage Learning

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13:

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Highly praised by reviewers for its clarity and rich exposition, this history of philosophy text illustrates philosophy as a process and not just a collection of opinions or conclusions. Lawhead helps students retrace the philosopher's intellectual journey rather than simply giving a report of the results so that the students see how the problems arose. Thus the philosopher's problem becomes a puzzle which the student has to face. Lawhead uses metaphors, analogies, vivid images, concrete examples, common experiences, and diagrams to bring the abstract issues down to earth and show the practical implications and contemporary relevance of positions.