The North Pole

Download or read book The North Pole: Its Discovery in 1909 Under the Auspices of the Peary Arctic Club written by Robert Edwin Peary and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 1986 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It may not be inapt to liken the attainment of the North Pole to the winning of a game of chess, in which all the various moves leading to a favorable conclusion had been planned in advance, long before the actual game began. It was an old game for me—a game which I had been playing for twenty-three years, with varying fortunes. Always, it is true, I had been beaten, but with every defeat came fresh knowledge of the game, its intricacies, its difficulties, its subtleties, and with every fresh attempt success came a trifle nearer; what had before appeared either impossible, or, at the best, extremely dubious, began to take on an aspect of possibility, and, at last, even of probability. Every defeat was analyzed as to its causes in all their bearings, until it became possible to believe that those causes could in future be guarded against and that, with a fair amount of good fortune, the losing game of nearly a quarter of a century could be turned into one final, complete success. It is true that with this conclusion many well informed and intelligent persons saw fit to differ. But many others shared my views and gave without stint their sympathy and their help, and now, in the end, one of my greatest unalloyed pleasures is to know that their confidence, subjected as it was to many trials, was not misplaced, that their trust, their belief in me and in the mission to which the best years of my life have been given, have been abundantly justified. But while it is true that so far as plan and method are concerned the discovery of the North Pole may fairly be likened to a game of chess, there is, of course, this obvious difference: in chess, brains are matched against brains. In the quest of the Pole it was a struggle of human brains and persistence against the blind, brute forces of the elements of primeval matter, acting often under laws and impulses almost unknown or but little understood by us, and thus many times seemingly capricious, freaky, not to be foretold with any degree of certainty. For this reason, while it was possible to plan, before the hour of sailing from New York, the principal moves of the attack upon the frozen North, it was not possible to anticipate all of the moves of the adversary. Had this been possible, my expedition of 1905-1906, which established the then "farthest north" record of 87° 6´, would have reached the Pole. But everybody familiar with the records of that expedition knows that its complete success was frustrated by one of those unforeseen moves of our great adversary—in that a season of unusually violent and continued winds disrupted the polar pack, separating me from my supporting parties, with insufficient supplies, so that, when almost within striking distance of the goal, it was necessary to turn back because of the imminent peril of starvation. When victory seemed at last almost within reach, I was blocked by a move which could not possibly have been foreseen, and which, when I encountered it, I was helpless to meet. And, as is well known, I and those with me were not only checkmated but very nearly lost our lives as well. But all that is now as a tale that is told. This time it is a different and perhaps a more inspiring story, though the records of gallant defeat are not without their inspiration. And the point which it seems fit to make in the beginning is that success crowned the efforts of years because strength came from repeated defeats, wisdom from earlier error, experience from inexperience, and determination from them all.

Download or read book The North Pole and the South Pole written by Pierre Winters and published by Clavis. This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Want to Know books are informative picture books that answer the questions of young children. Some subjects are familiar to them, others are less familiar. The books deal with the world and the environment around us, with our past and present. In a playful and clever way, these books tell children what they want to know. Do you want to know everything about the North and the South Poles? This book tells you what they are, and what they look like. You ll find out about the animals and people who live there, and what they do. The book also contains a fun activity, a verse, a big foldout page and a mini-quiz, so that you can become a real expert. An informative, interactive picture book for children ages 5 and up about the WOW elements of the world, the North and South Poles."

Download or read book A Negro Explorer at the North Pole written by Matthew A. Henson and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2011-10-12 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Negro Explorer At The North Pole. A Negro Explorer At The North Pole [1912]. By Matthew A. Henson.Introduction by Booker T. Washington. Forward presented by Robert E. Peary."In short, Matthew Henson, next to Commander Peary, held and still holds the place of honor in the history of the expedition that finally located the position of the Pole, because he was the best man for the place. During twenty-three years of faithful service, he had made himself indispensable. From the position of a servant, he rose to that of companion and assistant in one of the most dangerous and difficult tasks that was ever undertaken by men. In extremity, when both the danger and the difficulty were greatest, the Commander wanted by his side the man upon whose skill and loyalty he could put the most absolute dependence and when that man turned out to be black instead of white. The Commander was not only willing to accept the service, but was at the same time generous enough to acknowledge it.

Download or read book North Pole, South Pole written by Gillian Turner and published by The Experiment. This book was released on 2011-01-11 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “fantastic story” of one of physics’ great riddles takes us through centuries of scientific history (Simon Lamb, author of Devil in the Mountain). Why do compass needles point north—but not quite north? What guides the migration of birds, whales, and fish across the world’s oceans? How is Earth able to sustain life under an onslaught of solar wind and cosmic radiation? For centuries, the world’s great scientists have grappled with these questions, all rooted in the same phenomenon: Earth’s magnetism. Over two thousand years after the invention of the compass, Einstein called the source of Earth’s magnetic field one of greatest unsolved mysteries of physics. Here, for the first time, is the complete history of the quest to understand the planet’s attractive pull—from the ancient Greeks’ fascination with lodestone to the geological discovery that the North Pole has not always been in the North—and to the astonishing modern conclusions that finally revealed the true source. Richly illustrated and skillfully told, North Pole, South Pole unfolds the human story behind the science: that of the inquisitive, persevering, and often dissenting thinkers who unlocked the secrets at our planet’s core. “In recent years, many very good books for interested non-scientists have been published: Richard Dawkins’s Climbing Mount Improbable and The Ancestor’s Tale, Stephen Jay Gould’s The Lying Stones of Marrakech, and Dava Sobel’s Longitude and The Planets, to name some of them. North Pole, South Pole . . . is a worthy addition to that list . . . Turner has a great story to tell, and she tells it well.” —The Press (New Zealand)

Download or read book North Pole Ninjas: MISSION: Christmas! written by Tyler Knott Gregson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: East meets North in North Pole Ninjas, a yuletide call-to-arms to save the spirit of Christmas. You may not know that Santa has a team of special elves, selected for their ability to perform top-secret missions that are all about helping, giving, caring, and listening. Anyone who receives this book is called upon to help carry out those missions with a bit of stealth and an open heart. The gorgeously illustrated picture book retells the legend of the North Pole Ninjas for new recruits. Complete with 50 secret tasks for new recruits this holiday season, this is the perfect antidote to worrying about whether you've been naughty or nice.

Download or read book North Pole / South Pole written by Michael Bright and published by words & pictures. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fully-illustrated and with a fun and innovative flip-book format, the book provides the perfect way to explore and compare the extreme environments of the two Poles. Take a trip to the ends of the earth and discover the extreme environments of the North and South Poles. Find out which animals live where, what the weather and climate is like and the effect global warming is having. Beginning with the North Pole, the book introduces the geography and climate of the Arctic. Readers will discover how climate change is affecting sea ice and why multi-year ice is so important to walruses and polar bears. Find out what ice floes are and what lives under the ice. The many uses of the Arctic are explained, from the home it provides to whale hunters to the rocket and missile test sites it houses. And then flip the book over and you arrive in the South Pole… The famous race to reach the Pole in 1911 is retold and readers will discover why the orca is the ultimate polar predator. The huge tabular icebergs, sub-glacial lakes and ice chimneys of the Antarctic are brought to life in all their impressive glory, not to mention the sea spiders, 'death star' starfish and other undersea giants!

Download or read book Cook & Peary written by Robert M. Bryce and published by Mechanicsburg, PA : Stackpole Books. This book was released on 1997 with total page 1160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not just the final word on what Cook and Peary did and did not do, but is also a full, fair examination of their lives. A finely drawn picture of the last days of the great expeditions, when explorers willingly risked their lives in pursuit of intangible and impossible goals.