Books: Antarctic Map Folio Series. Folio 19: History of Antarctic Exploration and Scientific Investigation

Summary

This is a review of Folio 19, "History of Antarctic Exploration and Scientific Investigation," in the Antarctic Map Folio Series, published by the American Geographical Society. The review notes that this folio, the final installment in a decade-long series backed by the National Science Foundation, systematically documents, through maps and text, the establishment of 75 Antarctic stations by a dozen nations between 1954 and 1975, along with their year-by-year scientific achievements. It traces the continent's history from a Roman geographer's speculative invention, through Captain Cook's circumnavigation that disproved the notion of a populous southern land, to the exploits of American sealers and Norwegian whalers, and finally to the modern era of scientific bases. The review observes that while the modern sections rely on data and maps rather than the evocative engravings of earlier expeditions, the folio effectively illustrates Antarctica's transformation from a site of resource exploitation to one of scientific inquiry.