“Could anything be more terrible than this silent, wind-swept immensity?” That’s a diary entry written by explorer Robert Falcon Scott, on his journey to Antarctica in 1905. It was, in the end, a disastrous journey. Scott wasn’t properly prepared. He had hauled along tractors, ponies, and even hay to feed the ponies, onto the ice. 50 years after Scott’s expedition, another group of explorers, much better prepared, also took a journey to Antarctica as part of a global scientific effort to investigate the continent, called the IGY -- the International Geophysical Year.
Producer Barbara Bogaev takes a look at what it was like for those men to live and work on Scott’s “silent, windswept immensity”. Their discoveries lay the basis for what we now understand about the geology, geography and even ice of the Antarctic region.
IGY:On The Ice was produced by Barbara Bogaev and mixed by Jared Weissbrot. The Pole2Pole music was composed by Alex Gardner.Special thanks to Peter Webb, and to Dan Balog (BAY-log) and 3D-audio productions.
IGY: In The Ice airs as part of Pole to Pole, an international media
celebration of the 2007-2009 International Polar Year, produced with
support from the National Science Foundation, the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle Radio,
Radio New Zealand, and the SOUNDPRINT Media Center, INC.
Links:
Pole to Pole Gallery
A gallery showing different ‘Pole to Pole’ research sites.
International Polar Year
This site is dedicated to the use of cutting edge science to explore and interprete the wide range of the physical and biological issues of the Arctic and Antarctic.
The International Geophysical Year
This is a brief history chronicling the creation of the International Geophysical Year.
IGY Reunion
The Antarctican Society held a gathering of IGY veterans including John Behrendt, Charlie Bentley, Tony Gow, Ed Robinson and Hugh Bennett.
Shackleton's Whisky Goes Home: Century-Old Scotch Flown Out Of Antarctica
Bottles of whisky have been found beneath Shackleton's hut dating back to 1890s.
Books:
Shambles by: Stephen Tait 2009 It was 1981 when a 25-year-old adventurer, Stephen Tait, witnessed the death of two friends after they fell into a crevass. It took him 30 years to come to terms with what happened.
Ice Ages : Solving the Mystery by: John Imbrie, Katherine Palmer Imbrie 1986 Did you experience the blizzard of 2010 and wondered when the next Ice Age will be upon us? This book may have the answer.
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