Description
"A captain's tell-all about the world's largest Arctic expedition--an illuminating account of seafaring adventure, Arctic natural history, and cutting-edge climate science. The book about the Mosaic Expedition: as seen in the documentary film Arctic Drift, Atmospheric scientist Markus Rex recounts the monumental Arctic expedition he captained for one year in this gripping and authoritative book. A groundbreaking step towards understanding the climate crisis, the MOSAiC expedition--launched in 2019 by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research--was the first of its kind, journeying deep into the epicentre of climate change, the Arctic, to seek hard-to-find and potentially world-changing scientific data. Rex begins with life aboard the Polarstern, a powerful icebreaker ship that is frozen into fragile ice and carried across the Arctic by the Transpolar Drift. Away from the rest of the world, the team prepares for life under brutal conditions, constructing "cities" and "towns" on the ice where they will study the Arctic ecosystem, its atmosphere, ocean, sea ice, and more. A terrifying feat that had never been attempted before, the team of hundreds of scientists perform their research during terrifying storms, cracking ice floes, frost-bite, and even quarantines as Covid-19 sweeps the globe. But there are heartwarming moments, too, as Markus Rex describes Christmas parties on the ice and polar bears playing with scientific equipment like puppies. He muses on expeditions past, such as the ill-fated Franklin Expedition, and Fridtjof Nansen's Fram expedition, which he follows as a guide. And he explores answers to the pressing questions facing the Arctic today: How will climate change impact this precious ecosystem--and therefore the rest of the world? What is the best way to protect the Arctic? Interweaving history, science, and memoir, The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time is a page-turner about the teamwork it takes to complete a risky goal, all in the name of understanding--and responding to--the climate crisis."--… (more)
Publication
Greystone Books (2022), 296 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member Chrisethier
Disclaimer: ARC via Librarything giveaway.
Markus Rex’s account of the MOASiC group’s polar expedition reads more like a diary or a brief journal of the expedition. Rex details the various changes that have occurred in the North Pole because of climate, including a very interesting discussion
While the science part of the book is interesting, and is important because of climate change, there really isn’t a sense of the people or even expedition itself. The reader gets the whys and wherefores but there is not a real sense of place. Rex conveys his love for what he is doing, the importance of the science, but what doesn’t appear is the sense of being at the North Pole. There is also a strange lack of other people. There are over 100 people on the mission, and while Rex, eventually, gets around to naming some of them, there is little sense of who they are as people. This is weirdness is furthered at various points in the book - for instance “the captain” is mentioned several times before Rex gives the man’s name or when in a nice little bit about cuisine on the ship, Rex applauds the kitchen staff, but never mentions their names. It is a strange thing.
That said, why the book does feel very much like his journal so he didn’t forget what happened at places, I am still glad I read it.
Markus Rex’s account of the MOASiC group’s polar expedition reads more like a diary or a brief journal of the expedition. Rex details the various changes that have occurred in the North Pole because of climate, including a very interesting discussion
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of sea ice. Rex clearly conveys the risks to the Arctic as well as to the Earth general because of climate change. Additionally, his passion for the science and belief in the importance of his expedition are clearly conveyed.While the science part of the book is interesting, and is important because of climate change, there really isn’t a sense of the people or even expedition itself. The reader gets the whys and wherefores but there is not a real sense of place. Rex conveys his love for what he is doing, the importance of the science, but what doesn’t appear is the sense of being at the North Pole. There is also a strange lack of other people. There are over 100 people on the mission, and while Rex, eventually, gets around to naming some of them, there is little sense of who they are as people. This is weirdness is furthered at various points in the book - for instance “the captain” is mentioned several times before Rex gives the man’s name or when in a nice little bit about cuisine on the ship, Rex applauds the kitchen staff, but never mentions their names. It is a strange thing.
That said, why the book does feel very much like his journal so he didn’t forget what happened at places, I am still glad I read it.
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LibraryThing member nancyadair
“Our generation may be the last to experience an Arctic that is covered in ice year round,” Markus Rex states. To understand what is happening and ascertain the impact of climate change, someone had to study the Arctic ice. And the best way was to trap an icebreaker into a stable ice flow, set
Over a hundred years ago, intrepid Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen first accomplished this feat. In 2019, a team with hundreds of scientists from across the world went into the Arctic ice. Markus Rex tells their story day by day. With beautiful descriptions of the Arctic world, thrilling stories of the challenges of life on shifting ice, and continual threats from Polar bears, the book is a thrilling quick read. Rex includes stories that humanize the scientists, and offers easily understood scientific insight. It also includes a multitude of photographs.
Rex warns that immediate action must be taken to avoid the loss of Arctic ice and avoid the inevitable results, The expedition was made possible by cooperation across nations. That cooperation is imperative to meet the threat of climate change. Our only hope, he warns, is to embrace multilateralism.
I enjoyed the book and appreciate it’s message. I personally would have enjoyed an appendix chapter with some of the knowledge gained from the experiments taken during the expedition. Perhaps that is another book!
I received a free ARC from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased.
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up camps with scientific equipment, and travel with the ice…for a year!Over a hundred years ago, intrepid Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen first accomplished this feat. In 2019, a team with hundreds of scientists from across the world went into the Arctic ice. Markus Rex tells their story day by day. With beautiful descriptions of the Arctic world, thrilling stories of the challenges of life on shifting ice, and continual threats from Polar bears, the book is a thrilling quick read. Rex includes stories that humanize the scientists, and offers easily understood scientific insight. It also includes a multitude of photographs.
Rex warns that immediate action must be taken to avoid the loss of Arctic ice and avoid the inevitable results, The expedition was made possible by cooperation across nations. That cooperation is imperative to meet the threat of climate change. Our only hope, he warns, is to embrace multilateralism.
I enjoyed the book and appreciate it’s message. I personally would have enjoyed an appendix chapter with some of the knowledge gained from the experiments taken during the expedition. Perhaps that is another book!
I received a free ARC from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased.
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LibraryThing member rangerfan
I received this free of charge in exchange for a review.
This book is translated into English. I found the translation good, with no weird sentences or words.
I would say this book is more of an adventure memoir than an actual science book. Nothing new here if you already know a lot about climate
I enjoyed that this book has a lot of photos, it helps bring you there with the author.
This book is translated into English. I found the translation good, with no weird sentences or words.
I would say this book is more of an adventure memoir than an actual science book. Nothing new here if you already know a lot about climate
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change. But it still is an interesting read overall.I enjoyed that this book has a lot of photos, it helps bring you there with the author.
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LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
Markus Rex’s The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time: The Arctic Mission to the Epicenter of Climate Change details the MOSAiC expedition aboard the Polarstern during the winter of 2019-2020. Rex, a veteran of arctic and Antarctic expeditions, describes how MOSAiC organized to lodge itself in
Rex explains the science and the history while also describing the day-to-day life of polar exploration, including rebuilding camp after the ice floe changes due to currents in the wind and water, developing rituals to keep up morale during the polar night, and scaring off polar bears – both to keep the human scientists safe and to encourage the bears to hunt where they will find food – in addition to something he could never plan for: the COID-19 pandemic. Where the first two-thirds of Rex’s account detail polar science as normal, even with the normal complications, he changes focus at the beginning of the final third to discuss how the team responded to the pandemic: scrambling to assist those who’d departed the Polarstern in returning home, struggling to get supplies to the ship on its ice floe, and still managing to find important results such as a hole in the polar ozone layer (pg. 158) that resembles the earlier hole in the Antarctic ozone (pg. 155). Rex concludes of MOSAiC, “By conducting a yearlong expedition, we can better analyze the processes that cause the Arctic to heat faster than any other region on the planet. Complex mechanisms create close connections between the Arctic’s atmosphere, snow, sea ice, ocean, ecosystem, and biogreochemistry. These processes don’t just intensify climate change, but are also altered themselves” (pg. 248).
Rex’s The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time advocates for international scientific programs as a way to solve great problems, foster international communication, and offer hope in the darkest times, such as the pandemic.
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an ice floe and follow the current, much as Fridtjof Nansen did 125 years prior, taking data on the formation of arctic sea ice and its decline over the previous century as a result of anthropogenic climate change. Commenting on the parallels between the historic and recent expeditions, Rex writes, “The ice may look endless and eternal, but it isn’t. It has its limits and is growing smaller all the time. In the southeast, where Nansen wrote…, where he claimed that the ice would remain for all eternity, for millennia to come there is now an open ocean” (pg. 182).Rex explains the science and the history while also describing the day-to-day life of polar exploration, including rebuilding camp after the ice floe changes due to currents in the wind and water, developing rituals to keep up morale during the polar night, and scaring off polar bears – both to keep the human scientists safe and to encourage the bears to hunt where they will find food – in addition to something he could never plan for: the COID-19 pandemic. Where the first two-thirds of Rex’s account detail polar science as normal, even with the normal complications, he changes focus at the beginning of the final third to discuss how the team responded to the pandemic: scrambling to assist those who’d departed the Polarstern in returning home, struggling to get supplies to the ship on its ice floe, and still managing to find important results such as a hole in the polar ozone layer (pg. 158) that resembles the earlier hole in the Antarctic ozone (pg. 155). Rex concludes of MOSAiC, “By conducting a yearlong expedition, we can better analyze the processes that cause the Arctic to heat faster than any other region on the planet. Complex mechanisms create close connections between the Arctic’s atmosphere, snow, sea ice, ocean, ecosystem, and biogreochemistry. These processes don’t just intensify climate change, but are also altered themselves” (pg. 248).
Rex’s The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time advocates for international scientific programs as a way to solve great problems, foster international communication, and offer hope in the darkest times, such as the pandemic.
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LibraryThing member niaomiya
Wow, this book was wonderful! Written by Markus Rex, the head of the MOSAIC project, the book chronicles the daily happenings of the MOSAIC expedition, the world's largest Arctic expedition, designed to get to the heart of climate change.
Rex is a wonderful writer! (And kudos to his translator Sarah
This book was a treatise to the absolute dire need for humans to combat climate change. It was incredibly sobering to learn about the frighteningly rapid changes in the Arctic and what that means for the rest of the world. Ultimately, Rex pleas for humans to come together and work together to heal the earth. The MOSAIC expedition provided much-needed scientific data. Now we just have to apply it to save our world.
Rex is a wonderful writer! (And kudos to his translator Sarah
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Pybus, as well!) His captain's log - which is essentially what this book is - reads like a thrilling adventure novel. The wonder and awe and excitement he feels are palpable; his emotions jump out of the page and engage the reader as surely as if the reader were there him/herself. The book covers everything - how Rex's icebreaking research ship, the Polarstern, works; how they determine what ice floe is appropriate for "docking" the ship to float to the North Pole; how they set up the different research stations on ice floes; how they deal with polar bears; how they work in social activities when in such isolation from the rest of the world; how the Arctic seasons behave. It is all incredibly fascinating! And, on top of it all, Rex describes how they cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, which was hitting the world while MOSAIC was still in blissful isolation.This book was a treatise to the absolute dire need for humans to combat climate change. It was incredibly sobering to learn about the frighteningly rapid changes in the Arctic and what that means for the rest of the world. Ultimately, Rex pleas for humans to come together and work together to heal the earth. The MOSAIC expedition provided much-needed scientific data. Now we just have to apply it to save our world.
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LibraryThing member wenestvedt
I really enjoyed the careful, steady voice and the great perspective of the author. As the expedition leader, he sees into the activities of all of his fellow scientists. His writing is measured and accessible, and the book was an easy read. It wasn't overly technical, either.
LibraryThing member ThinkingGuy
This is Markus Rex's account of the MOSAiC expedition, in which an international team of researchers on board the icebreaker RV Polarstern spent a year in the Arctic ice, studying the arctic climate from September 2019 to September 2020. The book is written more or less in the style of journal,
The book paints a vivid picture of the challenging logistics of mounting an expedition of such scale, from the advanced scientific equipment used, to the amounts of food and water required on board the ship, to the strict procedures for guarding against the constant polar bear threat. The COVID-19 pandemic which began after the expedition was in progress, created further challenges for resupply ships and relief crews.
The book concludes with a short, thoughtful epilogue in which Rex, having returned from the expedition and seen the effects of climate change on the front lines, describes both the urgent need and the challenges of implementing climate policies that are meaningful, effective, and fair.
The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time was originally written in German. I found this English translation by Sarah Pybus extremely smooth and easy to read, with no noticeable irregularities.
This book strongly appealed to my interests in natural science, engineering, and adventure/exploration, and I would recommend it to anyone who shares those interests.
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capturing the expedition's progress from day to day and week to week, with periodic digressions on the background of the expedition, and of the expeditions that preceded it, starting with Fridtjof Nansen's 1897 polar expedition in 1897.The book paints a vivid picture of the challenging logistics of mounting an expedition of such scale, from the advanced scientific equipment used, to the amounts of food and water required on board the ship, to the strict procedures for guarding against the constant polar bear threat. The COVID-19 pandemic which began after the expedition was in progress, created further challenges for resupply ships and relief crews.
The book concludes with a short, thoughtful epilogue in which Rex, having returned from the expedition and seen the effects of climate change on the front lines, describes both the urgent need and the challenges of implementing climate policies that are meaningful, effective, and fair.
The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time was originally written in German. I found this English translation by Sarah Pybus extremely smooth and easy to read, with no noticeable irregularities.
This book strongly appealed to my interests in natural science, engineering, and adventure/exploration, and I would recommend it to anyone who shares those interests.
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LibraryThing member yukon92
I received a free ARC of this book through the LTER in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was in Germany during the time the "Polarstern" set out for this amazing adventure in 2019. It was covered by the German media in depth and I was therefore very interested to read a firsthand account of the
The writing of the author was very dry (I guess he is a scientist, after all!) but still informative. I have also seen the TV documentary that was filmed during this trip, which was more exciting. I hope that the finished copy of the book has color pictures, I am sure that will greatly improve the appeal to readers.
I was in Germany during the time the "Polarstern" set out for this amazing adventure in 2019. It was covered by the German media in depth and I was therefore very interested to read a firsthand account of the
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whole expedition.The writing of the author was very dry (I guess he is a scientist, after all!) but still informative. I have also seen the TV documentary that was filmed during this trip, which was more exciting. I hope that the finished copy of the book has color pictures, I am sure that will greatly improve the appeal to readers.
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LibraryThing member tom471
Have you ever wondered how scientists come up with the data on climate change? Then this book is for you!
This book describes the year long MOSAIC expedition, launched by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. The institute sent the Polarstern maritime research ship into the
The measurements taken included sea ice thickness, water temperatures, air temperatures, (using a tethered weather balloon), and much more. The ship zigzag route covered over two thousand miles.
Expedition members came from thirty-seven countries. There were eighty partner institutions and scientific institutes from twenty different countries.
The translation was excellent. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the process of climate change. I read it in 3 days. There are black and white pictures in my advanced reader copy. The published copy will have color pictures and an index.
Thanks to Greystone Books for sending me this book through LibraryThing.
I rate it 4.5 stars rounded down.
This book describes the year long MOSAIC expedition, launched by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. The institute sent the Polarstern maritime research ship into the
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Arctic Ocean to be frozen in for a whole year, following in the footsteps of Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who did the same in a wooden ship in 1897. The Polarstern is a modern icebreaker ship and built for sailing in the polar regions.The measurements taken included sea ice thickness, water temperatures, air temperatures, (using a tethered weather balloon), and much more. The ship zigzag route covered over two thousand miles.
Expedition members came from thirty-seven countries. There were eighty partner institutions and scientific institutes from twenty different countries.
The translation was excellent. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the process of climate change. I read it in 3 days. There are black and white pictures in my advanced reader copy. The published copy will have color pictures and an index.
Thanks to Greystone Books for sending me this book through LibraryThing.
I rate it 4.5 stars rounded down.
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LibraryThing member fiberdzns
I received this ebook through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.
This is the account of the MOSAIC expedition. The MOSAIC expedition studied arctic ice for a full year cycle. This involved many teams of researchers and support from many nations. Markus Rex tells the story of the year in diary
The entries detailing the challenges of running this expedition held my attention. The never ending challenges of moving and thawing ice were interesting. The polar bears needed to be constantly monitored and kept away from equipment and researchers. In the middle of all this, the pandemic came to a head. Trying to get supplies and moor ships at closed docks nearly stalled the whole project.
The translation of this book was never an issue and was well done. Recommended for those with a love of science.
This is the account of the MOSAIC expedition. The MOSAIC expedition studied arctic ice for a full year cycle. This involved many teams of researchers and support from many nations. Markus Rex tells the story of the year in diary
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style interspersed with sidebar information. Rex helps run this expedition and is responsible for the safety of everyone involved. This makes the diary a bit more about running the expedition and a bit less about the science. The amount of data they gathered also needed much more analysis after the expedition ended.The entries detailing the challenges of running this expedition held my attention. The never ending challenges of moving and thawing ice were interesting. The polar bears needed to be constantly monitored and kept away from equipment and researchers. In the middle of all this, the pandemic came to a head. Trying to get supplies and moor ships at closed docks nearly stalled the whole project.
The translation of this book was never an issue and was well done. Recommended for those with a love of science.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2020
Physical description
296 p.; 9 inches
ISBN
1771649488 / 9781771649483