Synopses & Reviews
The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica is the story of life's tenacity on the coldest of Earth's continents. It tells of the explorers who discovered Antarctica, of the whalers and sealers who despoiled it, and of the scientists who are deciphering its mysteries. In beautiful, lucid prose, David G. Campbell chronicles the desperately short summers on the Antarctic Peninsula. He presents a fascinating portrait of the evolution of life in Antarctica and also of the evolution of the continent itself.
Review
"With a poet's ear and a scientist's eye, biologist Campbell brings the Antarctic to vivid, teeming life..." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Campbell effectively delineates the Antarctic with words as Ron Naveen and others did with photography in Wild Ice." Library Journal
Review
"A splendid portrait of life in an alien landscape." Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of the Senses
Review
"A work of flawless prose, in which the plants, rocks, and glaciers of Antarctica are treated with the same particularity as the characters in a novel. A Feast." Edna O'Brien, New York Times Book Review
Review
"A magical evocation of a crystalline place: Campbell takes a frozen continent and shows it to be gloriously, prodigiously alive." Chet Raymo, author of An Intimate Look at the Night Sky
Synopsis
THE CRYSTAL DESERT: SUMMERS IN ANTARCTICA is the story of life's tenacity on the coldest of Earth's continents. It tells of the explorers who discovered Antarctica, of the whalers and sealers who despoiled it, and of the scientists who are deciphering its mysteries. In beautiful, lucid prose, David G. Campbell chronicles the desperately short summers on the Antarctic Peninsula. He presents a fascinating portrait of the evolution of life in Antarctica and also of the evolution of the continent itself.
About the Author
David G. Campbell is the author of the prizewinning Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica. He is a professor of biology at Grinnell College.