First Paragraph
Extremes is a collection of papers from the fourth Maury Workshop on the history of oceanography, held in Barrow, Alaska. From the editors’ notes, and comments in the introduction by Michael Reidy, the Barrow setting made an enormous impression on the chapter authors—possibly a first polar experience for some of these historians. Over the years, hundreds of books, some outstanding, have described aspects of polar exploration, either as overviews or as personal accounts by the explorers and inhabitants. This book contributes to that growing collection, offering insights on the development of the field of polar science through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.