Table of Contents

* Prologue *18 December: The Fire on the Snow Legends of the heroic era *19 December: The Breath of Antarctica The Brave West Winds *21 December: The University of the Southern Ocean Life at Sea *23 December: Great South Lands Reading the Rocks *24 December: Heavenly Bodies Space Weather *25 December: Planting Flags Claiming the Ice *26 December: Cold Peace Reds Down Under *27 December: Wintering Surviving the Polar Night *28 December: Solitude An Experiment in Loneliness *29 December: Honeymoon on Ice Love in a cold climate *30 December: Of Huddles and Pebbles Life Among the Penguins *31 December: The Changeover Time, History and Generations *1 January: Green Crusaders Greenpeace and Greenhouse *3 January: Feeding Body and Soul Hunger and Wonder *6 January: Captain Scott's Biscuit The Archaeology of Return *7 and 8 January * Acknowledgments * Notes * Index

About the Author

Tom Griffiths teaches history and the environment at the Australian National University in Canberra and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Reviews

Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica is a many-layered, sophisticated narrative, not only of the Antarctic, but our relationship with it.
*Globe and Mail*

In 2002 Griffiths, an environmental historian, accompanied a team of researchers to Antarctica. He writes about the romance of ocean exploration, the expeditions of Scott and Shackleton, but also about how high winds make that continent an indicator of global climate health.
*Los Angeles Times Book Review*

This is an extraordinary book, as notable as that of Griffiths’s antipodal fellow traveler Barry Lopez (whose 1986 best seller, Arctic Dreams, won a National Book Award). Griffiths turns otherwise humdrum shipboard jottings into starting points for inspired ruminations on the meaning of the Antarctic experience. Although he has never ventured into the interior, he seems to have read virtually everything published on the discovery, exploration, and exploitation of the southern continent, along with a host of unpublished diaries and station logs. Best of all, he relates what he has learned in prose that is both thoughtful and luminous… Few of us will ever visit Antarctica, even though cruise ships now bring several tens of thousands of high-rolling tourists to its coasts each year. Readers, I am sure, will come away from this book agreed that fewer is better, because Griffiths makes it clear just how special this land is, and, for all its ruggedness, how fragile. Better to leave Antarctic travels to a select few scientists, adventurers, and support staff. And, from time to time—for those of us who stay at home—eloquent writers like Tom Griffiths.
*Natural History*

Griffiths is an Australian environmental historian who weaves the story of his visit [to Antarctica] supplying a scientific research station with a good deal of history and science. He writes with insight about the past and probable future as seen from the front lines of the global-warming crisis.
*Seven Oaks*

As the climate changes and polar ice caps shrink dramatically, author and environmental historian Griffiths provides essential background for understanding how we reached the current state of meltdown… Engrossing and highly satisfying… A fine and informative ecological adventure, Griffiths’ history is worth reading and re-reading.
*Publishers Weekly (starred review)*

Antarctica, that great, unknown continent, has attracted explorers and scientists for centuries. Like many before him, Griffiths (history, Australian National Univ., Canberra) was drawn to this harsh but beautiful landscape. Believing that to understand the experiences of explorers and the history of Antarctica one must experience its mighty winds, cold, danger, and silence, the author, in 2002, joined a ship delivering scientists and supplies to Casey Station. This book is part diary of that voyage and part history of that most southerly land. Griffiths pleasantly meanders from topic to topic discussing humanity's fascination with the South Pole, from the early explorers to the race to be first to the pole, the multinational land grab, and the continent's designation as the natural laboratory of science and research. This enjoyable and highly readable book would be an excellent addition to any natural history, polar history, or adventure travel collection. [See also the review of The Ends of the Earth, p. 81.-Ed.]-Betty Galbraith, Washington State Univ. Science & Engineering Lib., Pullman Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica is a many-layered, sophisticated narrative, not only of the Antarctic, but our relationship with it. -- Jean McNeil * Globe and Mail *
In 2002 Griffiths, an environmental historian, accompanied a team of researchers to Antarctica. He writes about the romance of ocean exploration, the expeditions of Scott and Shackleton, but also about how high winds make that continent an indicator of global climate health. -- Susan Salter Reynolds * Los Angeles Times Book Review *
This is an extraordinary book, as notable as that of Griffiths's antipodal fellow traveler Barry Lopez (whose 1986 best seller, Arctic Dreams, won a National Book Award). Griffiths turns otherwise humdrum shipboard jottings into starting points for inspired ruminations on the meaning of the Antarctic experience. Although he has never ventured into the interior, he seems to have read virtually everything published on the discovery, exploration, and exploitation of the southern continent, along with a host of unpublished diaries and station logs. Best of all, he relates what he has learned in prose that is both thoughtful and luminous... Few of us will ever visit Antarctica, even though cruise ships now bring several tens of thousands of high-rolling tourists to its coasts each year. Readers, I am sure, will come away from this book agreed that fewer is better, because Griffiths makes it clear just how special this land is, and, for all its ruggedness, how fragile. Better to leave Antarctic travels to a select few scientists, adventurers, and support staff. And, from time to time-for those of us who stay at home-eloquent writers like Tom Griffiths. -- Laurence A. Marschall * Natural History *
Griffiths is an Australian environmental historian who weaves the story of his visit [to Antarctica] supplying a scientific research station with a good deal of history and science. He writes with insight about the past and probable future as seen from the front lines of the global-warming crisis. -- George Fetherling * Seven Oaks *
As the climate changes and polar ice caps shrink dramatically, author and environmental historian Griffiths provides essential background for understanding how we reached the current state of meltdown... Engrossing and highly satisfying... A fine and informative ecological adventure, Griffiths' history is worth reading and re-reading. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *