Rating: 
Summary: A very different report on life in Antarctica
Review: In brief, this book is very good and interesting. Ms. Wheeler lived for quite a while (7 months) in the Antarctic, at various sites. Without spending too much time, she describes the history of Antarctic exploration, and the kind of characters it attracts.Most interesting to me was her interest in the individuals she encountered there, and the effect isolation has on them. Some return time after time, which most of us would find puzzling. She explains the hold the continent has on these people. While travelling from camp to camp, run by several nations, she also examined cultural differences, some of which are insightful...the Italian camp seemed especially "human", for example. And compare the British and American camp atmospheres. By interspersing her reportorial observations with personal comments, she reveals something of herself, but not too much. She does not become overly familiar. Nor does the book dwell too much on the scientific minutiae of the area, as some others do. This is a good book about a very harsh place, written by a very good reporter and observer. I'd very much like to meet this woman. How many books leave one with that feeling about an author?
Rating: 
Summary: A book to hook you and not let you go...
Review: Living in a city known for it's balmy and mild climate, I picked up this book because it seemed so different from everything I had been used to. After the first chapter, I became too involved to put it down. While I was not a big fan of Antartica before the read, I soon became one. Miss Wheeler captivated me with her descriptions of this huge blue/white continent. I am unfortunately(?) obsessed now with the south polar region. I have been reading every book I can find about the area, and this would not have happened without Sara Wheeler's beautifully written account of her 7 months stay at the various bases which dot the continent. I highly encourage anyone, whether you are interested in the region or not, to buy this book and sit back for a most enjoyable experience. You will not be disapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable account of life at the bottom
Review: Sara Wheeler's account of her Antarctic adventures was a great read. Her portrayal of day to day life, interwoven historical references, beautiful landscape descriptions, and tales of encounters with the myriad of personalities who make their temporary home on the ice, made for a captivating story. It does what all good travel literature should....makes you want to go to this incredible place. Since reading the novel Antartic Navigation a few years back, I have been devouring books about the polar regions. This book put me over the top...a trip to Antartica is now a goal of my own. Wish me luck!
Rating:
Summary: Travel to earth's coldest, dryest, highest continent
Review: Sara Wheeler's journey to Antarctica began as a side trip. While researching a book on Chile, she flew to its southernmost point, King George Island, off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
"Standing on the edge of the ice field in a wind strong enough to lean on, squinting in the buttery light, it was as if I were seeing the earth for the very first time," she writes. "I felt less homeless than I have ever felt anywhere, and I knew immediately that I had to return."
"Terra Incognita" is the story of that return. It offers a fascinating snapshot of modern day scientists who are expanding the frontiers of polar research in Antarctica, framed within an engaging and well-researched history of human adventure on this most inhospitable of continents.
Wheeler's book is filled with fascinating characters, their portraits sketched with affection and humor: the scientists, flyboys and dreamers she meets in field stations and camps; legendary explorers such as Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton, whose lives are vividly rendered through excerpts from their writings; and ultimately, the great landscape itself.
"The landscape drew my thoughts away from worldly things, away from the thousand mechanical details of my outward life," Wheeler writes of the spiritual aspects of her Antarctic sojourn. "I had found the place where, loosed from my cultural moorings, I could find the space to look for the higher power, whatever it was, that loomed over the snow fields."
By sharing her own responses to the landscape, as well as describing how other people have responded to Antarctica as a place and an idea throughout history, Wheeler has crafted a highly personal book that also educates the reader about the continent's history, geography and climate.
I would recommend this book to any reader interested in nature, science, or history, who wants to take "the last great journey" with an engaging and funny guide.
Rating:
Summary: Travel to earth's coldest, dryest, highest continent
Review: Sara Wheeler's journey to Antarctica began as a side trip. While researching a book on Chile, she flew to its southernmost point, King George Island, off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
"Standing on the edge of the ice field in a wind strong enough to lean on, squinting in the buttery light, it was as if I were seeing the earth for the very first time," she writes. "I felt less homeless than I have ever felt anywhere, and I knew immediately that I had to return."
"Terra Incognita" is the story of that return. It offers a fascinating snapshot of modern day scientists who are expanding the frontiers of polar research in Antarctica, framed within an engaging and well-researched history of human adventure on this most inhospitable of continents.
Wheeler's book is filled with fascinating characters, their portraits sketched with affection and humor: the scientists, flyboys and dreamers she meets in field stations and camps; legendary explorers such as Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton, whose lives are vividly rendered through excerpts from their writings; and ultimately, the great landscape itself.
"The landscape drew my thoughts away from worldly things, away from the thousand mechanical details of my outward life," Wheeler writes of the spiritual aspects of her Antarctic sojourn. "I had found the place where, loosed from my cultural moorings, I could find the space to look for the higher power, whatever it was, that loomed over the snow fields."
By sharing her own responses to the landscape, as well as describing how other people have responded to Antarctica as a place and an idea throughout history, Wheeler has crafted a highly personal book that also educates the reader about the continent's history, geography and climate.
I would recommend this book to any reader interested in nature, science, or history, who wants to take "the last great journey" with an engaging and funny guide.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Factual Book
Review: Sara Wheeler's Terra Incognita, copy write 1996, 351 pages, is an amazing book about a woman and her travels in Antarctica.
Sara Wheeler was the first female to travel south to Antarctica. The book describes all her experiences during her 7-month expedition. The book really relates to biology because of the animals she encounters, and the harsh climate caused by the environment. In the beginning of the book Wheeler very accurately describes the territory to really get you into. I found myself going on-line and finding more information because she left me hanging. She also went into some detail of previous expeditions and other explorer's adventures. And during the whole book she was offering a ton of information and giving unbelievable details that I would never had thought to write down, such as that temperature. During her stay, I got the vibe that Ms. Wheeler was treated as an outsider, yet that did not stop her from making unbelievable observations. She was a very good reporter considering the conditions. She related to a completely new environment of "natives."
I learned a lot from the book that I never knew about Antarctica and life there. For example I never knew that you had to go to the tip of South America before you could leave. Or how many steps there were in getting to the "station". I also learned that living in Antarctica is not just snow and cold, it is mountains, ice, there really is no one there. The author was a female and the first in Antarctica, which makes the book even more interesting because I can relate to her, therefore if you would like a detailed, factual, and adventurous read, I would recommend this book to you.
Rating:
Summary: A modern female perspective of the frozen south
Review: Sometimes I think I must have been an Eskimo in a prior life, because I love books about the frozen north. When I came upon this book, subtitled "Travels in Antarctica", by Sara Wheeler, my imagination was immediately captured as I realized this was a whole new territory for me to explore in my reading experience. Ms. Wheeler is a young British travel writer who spent 7 months in Antarctica in 1995 as a writer-in-residence with the U.S. National Science Foundation. What a great gig! A lot of research went into the writing of this book. And a lot of love. She mixes all the historical details of the early explorations of Shackleton, Amundson and Scott with her own modern and female perspective of the places she goes, the people she meets and the emotional effect all this has on her as she explores the coldest, windiest and driest continent in the world. As Antarctic explorations go, hers has a certain degree of comfort. She is helicoptered around to various bases, and even though there are periods of time that she spends in a tent or igloo or prefab shelter, she has radio contact with the base and always has a supply of food. But this, of course, is what it is like to travel to Antarctica these days, and she is fortunate indeed to have the experience of going there. This is not a tourist destination after all. And virtually everybody there is a scientist of some sort. She describes her experiences well and I loved he sense of humor, especially when describing the differences between the bases manned by different nationalities. The Italians have the best food. The Brits are completely male, bonded in their background of English private schools and given to bawdy toilet humor and practical jokes. And the American staff is approximately 25% female. The book was a slow read, especially the parts which go into detail about the fascinating history, but I didn't mind. Also, the pace of the book tended to remain the same throughout as she traveled from base to base making her observations. The bases might have been isolated, but even in 1995, she was able to get e-mail there. The concluding chapters were the most interesting. Perhaps it is because by then the reader has absorbed all the history and first impressions. During these last chapters, Ms. Wheeler spends several months with an American woman artist in a prefabricated cabin out on the ice. The artist paints. The writer writes. They develop a deep friendship as they prepare meals and grapple with the environment amidst the startling beauty of their surroundings, watching the long polar nights welcome the sun. I was sorry to see the book end because during the time I was reading it, I was transported to a very real part of the world that I will probably never have the opportunity to visit myself. So for all my fellow armchair travelers, I definitely recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A modern female perspective of the frozen south
Review: Sometimes I think I must have been an Eskimo in a prior life, because I love books about the frozen north. When I came upon this book, subtitled "Travels in Antarctica", by Sara Wheeler, my imagination was immediately captured as I realized this was a whole new territory for me to explore in my reading experience. Ms. Wheeler is a young British travel writer who spent 7 months in Antarctica in 1995 as a writer-in-residence with the U.S. National Science Foundation. What a great gig! A lot of research went into the writing of this book. And a lot of love. She mixes all the historical details of the early explorations of Shackleton, Amundson and Scott with her own modern and female perspective of the places she goes, the people she meets and the emotional effect all this has on her as she explores the coldest, windiest and driest continent in the world. As Antarctic explorations go, hers has a certain degree of comfort. She is helicoptered around to various bases, and even though there are periods of time that she spends in a tent or igloo or prefab shelter, she has radio contact with the base and always has a supply of food. But this, of course, is what it is like to travel to Antarctica these days, and she is fortunate indeed to have the experience of going there. This is not a tourist destination after all. And virtually everybody there is a scientist of some sort. She describes her experiences well and I loved he sense of humor, especially when describing the differences between the bases manned by different nationalities. The Italians have the best food. The Brits are completely male, bonded in their background of English private schools and given to bawdy toilet humor and practical jokes. And the American staff is approximately 25% female. The book was a slow read, especially the parts which go into detail about the fascinating history, but I didn't mind. Also, the pace of the book tended to remain the same throughout as she traveled from base to base making her observations. The bases might have been isolated, but even in 1995, she was able to get e-mail there. The concluding chapters were the most interesting. Perhaps it is because by then the reader has absorbed all the history and first impressions. During these last chapters, Ms. Wheeler spends several months with an American woman artist in a prefabricated cabin out on the ice. The artist paints. The writer writes. They develop a deep friendship as they prepare meals and grapple with the environment amidst the startling beauty of their surroundings, watching the long polar nights welcome the sun. I was sorry to see the book end because during the time I was reading it, I was transported to a very real part of the world that I will probably never have the opportunity to visit myself. So for all my fellow armchair travelers, I definitely recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: entertaining, vivid and insightful
Review: Terra Incognita is a delight. Wheeler is witty, charming and interesting, and her descriptions of both her outer and inner journeys in Antarctica are terrific reading. Along with her own experiences, Wheeler reviews the history of antarctic exploration with particular insight into the British character and experience. I still think Scott was a twit, but I understand his mentality a little better now. While Wheeler lacks the passionate introspection of Byrd's _Alone_, her depiction of her winter on the ice gives a sense of the changes such a powerful environment produces on the psyche. _Terra Incognita_ is definitely on the short list of terrific Antarctica books.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best book
Review: The book goes on and on about Scott and guys who went to the Antarctic about a zillion years ago. The author continually says bad things about everyone she meets, then tells how they all loved her and threw parties for her. She marginalizes or even ignores the work of the people she meets. I read the book to learn about Antarctica, not about her. Having read the book, I know more about her and no more about Antarctica than I did before I read the book. Forget this book; don't bother reading it unless you're one of Sara's "friends" (be careful of the back-stabbing).
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