The McGill Arctic Research Station on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut has been operating continuously since 1960, and its name is more than a coincidence: this outpost at 79o26' North latitude is about as close as we can get to Mars on Earth. Getting there, living there, and doing research there are all adventures that the reader can experience from the comfort of home. The scientists who make the journey, sometimes each summer for decades, study the climate of this fascinating region, its flora and fauna, and its microfauna: the bacteria and protozoa that are the only inhabitants of much of the area. Their work tells us about the history of this planet, and about how best to search for microbial life elsewhere in the Solar System. The photos in the book show not only the scenery at the macroscale, but also visit the microscopic world to examine the lifeforms that dominate extreme environments. Glaciers, wolves, Arctic hare, willow, and Thiomicrospira: this land uninhabited by humans and dark 4 months of the year is a surprise of biodiversity. Travel to MARS, and you may begin to believe in life on Mars.
Increasing numbers of physicists, chemists, and mathematicians are moving into biology, reading literature across disciplines, and mastering novel biochemical concepts. To succeed in this transition, researchers must understand on a practical level what is experimentally feasible. The number of experimental techniques in biology is vast and often s
Higginbotham has given to American historiography a microcosmic view of one of the earliest and most important outposts in the colonial new world. The Latin South can henceforth not be ignored." - Alabama Historical Quarterly "The definitive account . . . superbly recounted." - Journal of Southern History "Meticulously documented. . . . Recommended for libraries interested in the colonial period." - Choice "Mind-boggling . . . a stupendous job of research. It is amazing that Higginbotham can recreate in such detail the lives of these people. All history books should be written like this." - BirminghamMagazine
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