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HOW
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WHY

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THE HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOK OF THE

Written by
IRVING ROBBIN
Illustrated by
SHANNON STIRNWEIS
Editorial Production:
DONALD D. WOLF

Edited under the supervision of

Dr. Paul E. Blackwood,
Washington, D. C.
Text and Illustrations approved by
Oakes A. White,
Brooklyn Children's Museum,
Brooklyn, New York

WONDER BOOKS NEW YORK

A Division of GROSSET & DUNLAP, Inc.

Introduction
Explorers and scientists have always been fascinated by the Polar
Regions. For centuries, they have probed the waters and the lands, seeking
short cuts between the continents. Some sought to reach the Poles; others,
to untap their mysteries. As this How and Why Wonder Book of the Polar
Regions unfolds, the efforts of explorers and scientists of the past have
amassed a rich heritage of knowledge about the Arctic and Antarctic
Regions.
The reasons for the extreme cold; how animals and plants live in such
barren areas; the astonishing chain of interdependence between pla11ts, animals, and man - all make a vivid story. Also, the life of the Eskimo,
completely attuned to Polar conditions, illustrates the amazing ability of
mankind to adapt to his environment. The stories of the brave men who
have explored these desolate lands attests to the heroic nature of men.
Many new reasons prompt scientists and explorers to find out even
more about these icy regions. For example, current experiments with longrange weather forecasting require more information about the Polar icecaps.
New air routes over the Poles make it necessary to know more about living
in cold climates so that suitable emergency stations may be established.
Also, this information is needed by the people who are attracted in everincreasing numbers to the Polar Regions by the discovery of valuable mineral
resources.
So it is no surprise that the author writes, "Man is exposing to the light
of science the secrets of the once remote and forbidding ends of Earth." This
How and Why Wonder Book of the Polar Regions is a useful introduction to
what we already know and sets the stage for better understanding of all the
future Polar achievements we can expect.
Paul E. Blackwood
Dr. Blackwood is a professional employee in the U . S. Office of Education .
This book was edited by him in his private capacity and no official support
or endorsement by the Office of Education is intended or should be inferred.

1965, by Wonder Books,

a Division of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
Printed in the United States of America.
First Printing

Contents
Page

THEVERYENDSOFTHEEARTH
What are the boundaries of the
Polar Regions?
Why are the Polar Regions icy cold?
Were the Poles al ways cold?
How do the Polar Regions affect
o'ur weather?
Can the Polar Regions be considered
real continents?
What is the shape of Antarctica?
Are there natural resources in
Antarctica?
What is the geography of the
North Polar Region?
How are icebergs formed?
What is the Aurora Borealis?

4
6
7
7
8
10
10
11
14
14
16

Page

How is an igloo built?

How is an igloo furnished inside?
How do Eskimos fravel on the water?
How does the Eskimo hunt?
What is .the kill of the hunt used for?
To what animal does the Eskimo
owe his survival?
Do other people live in the North
Polar Region?
What is happening to the Eskimo
today?
THE MEN WHO FOUND THE
POLES

26
27
27
28
30
31
32
32
33

TO THE NORTH
Who was the first explorer to see
the frozen North?
How far north did the vikings
explore?
Why were some nations suddenly
interested in Polar exploration?
How far did the first Polar
voyagers get?
What was the next nation to try
a Polar passage?
What was Russia's contribution
to early Polar exploration?
Were the passageways ever found?
Who finally reached the Pole?

34

42
42
42

24

TO THE SOUTH
Who discovered Antarctica?
Did exploration begin immediately?
Who was the first to reach the
South Pole?
What tragedies followed the
discovery of the South Pole?

THE PEOPLE WHO FIRST LIVED

25
IN THE ARCTIC
Where did the Eskimos come from? 25
Do Eskirrtos differ from other
people?
26

TODAY AND TOMORROW

What were Admiral Byrd's
contributions to Polar research?
What was the IGY?
What is happening at the Poles now?

46

LIFE NEAR THE POLES

What kind of plants grow in the
Polar Regions?
Are there insects in the Polar
Regions?
Why does most of the Polar life live
in the sea?
What is an aquatic mammal?
Are there any birds in the Polar
Regions?
What bird can swim like a fish?
How can land animals withstand the
cold in the Polar Regions?
What animal is called "the King
of the North"?
Which animal is the fastest runner
in the North?
Did a polar bear ever catch a
penguin?

17
18
19
19
20
21
22
22
23 .
24

34
35
35
35
36
36
39
40

43
45

46
47
48

The Very Ends of the .Earth

Today, one of the dreams of mankind
is to explore the other planets in our
solar system. But another dream, still
small and quiet, is that one day, perhaps hundreds of years from now,
explorers will visit the planets of far distant suns - suns so distant that they

appear only as tiny shining dots in even

our most powerful telescopes.
Perhaps, one of those remote planets
is, like ours, the home of intelligent life.
Let us suppose also that they dream the
same dream, and choose our solar system for a visit from one of their explor-

NORTH POLAR REGIONS:

The Arctic Circle, 66 Vi degrees north latitude, crosses land at many points.
Parts of Alaska, parts of Canada's Northwest Territories, most of Greenland,
parts of Scandinavia, and parts of Siberia all 'ie. within the Arctic Region .
So do a number of smaller islands.

SOUTH POLAR REGIONS

The Antarctic Circle, 66 Vi degrees south latitude, runs mainly across open
sea, barely touching the land mass of Antarctica at just a few points. The
names of the bodies of water and the land masses of Antarctica are
mementos of their famous explorers and discoverers.

ers. When this traveler arrives from the

immense reaches of space, he will pass
lonely Pluto, icy Neptune, quiet Uranus,
the turbulent giants, Jupiter and Saturn,
and after drifting by barren Mars, he
will finally see a blue-green planet
slowly turning in space while it follows
its exact. course around the blazing sun.
As he nears the orbit of t~s planet, he

will notice fhat it is rotating smoothly,

as though an imaginary axle ran through
it from top to bottom.
As the traveler comes closer, he will
be able to observe details - immense
oceans, large and irregularly shaped
land masses, drifting clouds, and green
vegetation. He will be looking at our
home, the Earth, a beautiful planet,
5

richly endowed with natural resources

and a wide range of climate. But our
visitor will be struck by the two great,
almost-blindingly white icecaps centered around the ends of the axis that
contain the North and South Poles.
To us, they are the very ends of the
Earth - the last areas of the globe to
be explored and mapped; the most
inhospitable parts of the planet; a devastation of wind, snow, and temperatures approaching the icy cold of space.
We call them the Polar Regions.
The Polar Regions are bounded geographically by imWhat are the
aginary circles boundaries of
the Arctic Circle

degrees north latitude and the Antarctic

Circle as 66V2 degrees south latitude.
The line of the Antarctic Circle runs
mainly across open sea, barely touching
the land mass of Antarctica at just a
few points, while the line -of the Arctic
Circle crosses land at many places. It
runs through Alaska, the upper portion
of Canada's Northwest Territories, encompasses most of Greenland, slices
through Norway, Sweden, Finland, and
completes its circuit by passing through
Russia and a long strip of Siberia.
Within the circle are several island
groups surrounded by the Arctic Ocean.
The earth's axis is tilted 23

the Polar Regions?

in the North and

the Antarctic Circle in the South. The
circles are placed at 66V2 degrees a ay
from the Equator, which r nfaround
the center of the Earth. Therefore, the
Arctic Circle is also known as 661h

% degrees

which makes the angle of the sunlight

falling on the Polar Regions even more
shallow, another reason for the extreme cold during the wintertime .

-~-

SUN'S RAYS
ON JUNE 21

.
.
.
.

...
EARTH'S ORBIT

In the central section of the earth (as illustrated at

left), the sunlight blazes down at almost a right
angle; at the Poles, the angle is shallow. This is one
of the two reasons for the difference in temperature
between the tropics and the Polar Regions. The other
is the tilt of the earth which, together with its rota-

. tion on its axis, also accounts for the 24 hours of

daylight in the North Pole and 24 hours of darkness

at the South Pole on June 21 . At the other end of

the orbit, on December 21, this situation is reversed .

es

ht
e

The Earth is blanketed with a layer of

atmosphere
Why are the Polar th
h wh'1ch th e
.
.icy co Id?.
roug
eg1ons
R
sun's rays must
pass before its surface can be warmed.
In the central section of the Earth, the
sunlight blazes fiercely down on the
tropics at almost a right angle. But at
the Poles, the life-giving rays strike the
surface in a shallow angle, and must
penetrate a greater depth of air. This
weakens their intensity, and. is one of
the two reasons for the frigid climate of
the Polar Regions.
If our visitor from interstellar space
is observant, he will notice that the axis
about which the Earth rotates is not
exactly vertical in relation to the sun,
but slightly tipped. The planet leans at
an angle of 23 Vi degrees. This 23 V2degree tilt of the Earth's axis is the
other reason for the intense cold of the
Polar Regions. It makes the angle of
the entering sunlight even more shallow
during the wintertime of each Pole.

AUTUMN
SEPT. 23 .

During the year-round orbit of the

Earth, there is a period when the North
Pole leans away from the sun and experiences winter. At the same time, the
South Pole leans towards the sun and
experiences "summer." At the opposite
end of the orbit, this situation is reversed, and so are the seasons. Therefore, the tilt of the Earth gives us our
seasons since the angle toward the sun
of any given area is changing constantly
and regularly. Interestingly enough, the
distance from the sun has no bearing on
the temperature of the season. The
winter in the Northern Hemisphere occurs when the Earth is closest to the
sun, but with that area leaning away
from the rays.
There have been periods in the long
history of the Earth
Were the Poles
when the angle of
always cold?
tilt was different and
it was possible for sunlight to fall more
directly on a temperate Arctic and Antarctica. Coal deposits thirteen feet thick
found in Antarctica tell us that, at one
time, this southernmost continent must
have been a lush, fertile land, overgrown

WINTER
l>EC. 21

SUMMER
JUNE 21

SPRING
MAR. 21

The tilt of the earth gives us our seasons.

Polar weather stations, like the one shown, help

our weather men to make long-range predictions.

with plant life. But since the tilt of the

Earth has been changing gradually, a
bitter ice age descended upon the continent, freezing it solid. How long this
condition will remain can be only a
guess since the change in tilt cannot .be
measured, even during a lifetime. However, scientists predict that, in the far
future, the icy regions may once again
enjoy a temperate climate. This could
also result in drastic changes elsewhere
on the earth with some continents becoming colder and others warmer.
There is a new theory, recently published by three Australian scientists,
which speaks of "continental drift."
These men believe that the continents
of the Earth were not always in their

The climate of the Arctic, compared to that of the

Antarctic, is tempered by the Gulf Stream, which carries warmer water from the Gulf of Mexico into the
Arctic Ocean. At the same time, this influences the
air currents and our weather.

familiar places, but drifted gradually

across the planet's surface. Since the
Earth is believed to consist of a solid
crust which floats on a liquid core, it
is reasonable to suppose that sections of
. the crust could possibly move from
place to place. If so, then Antarctica
was in a temperate zone at one time
before slowly drifting into the region of
deep freeze.
Whatever the circumstances, it is
definitely certain that the areas now
centered around the Poles were warm
at one time.
The ends of the Earth are our weather
factories, arid
How do the Polar
their influence on
Reg ions affect
the lands nearer
our weather?
the center is very
pronounced. Once again, we must look
at the tilting of the Earth on its axis to
see why our weather is controlled by
the Polar Regions.
Each Polar Region experiences, during its winter, the phenomenon of days
and weeks with only little sunlight.
When a Pole is tipped away from the
sun, the angle is so extreme that little

light ever reaches the area. The nights

are long, ~nd they get l~mger as_midwinter approaches. Each day, the sun
appears for a shorter time and finally,
on midwinter day, the sun does not
appear at all. Then, day by day, it pokes
briefly above the horizon only to disappear again, plunging the Polar wastes
into darkness once more. But each day,
the sun rises a bit higher, stays a little
longer, until midsummer day when the
phenomenon of the Midnight Sun appears - a twenty-four hour day!
But during the long, desolate winter,
when little heat reaches the snow-tossed
wastes, a bitter cold descends upon the
region. Day after day, the little heat that
the air and ground hold radiates away
into space. It is as though an immense
funnel is sucking the heat away from
the Earth. The moisture in the air crystallizes into icy flakes, a bitter wind
howls in the desolation, and all living
things brace themselves against the
might of a Polar winter. The cold is
almost unbelievably intense. In the
Arctic Zone, a record temperature of
90 degrees below zero was recorded,
but the Antarctic holds the world rec-

Releasing weather balloons iri the cold Polar air is

one of the many daily outdoor activities of our
weather men in the Polar Regions.

ord. There, Soviet scientists measured

a temperature of 126.9 degrees below
zero!
When air is that cold, it becomes
more dense and heavier and like a flood,
begins to flow away from the Polar
Regions. As these tidal waves of frigid
air descend upon the neighboring continents, they bring with them winter's
icy breath. They are known as "cold
fronts," and push aside the warm
masses of air as they move on relentlessly. Quite often, storms break out
9

along the way when cold front meets

warm air mass. The moisture in the
warm air is frozen to snow. During the
summer, the warm air can move up
from the tropics, but only because the
Poles are not generating cold fronts.
Therefore, the condition of the air at
the Poles controls our weather.
Our weather men, or meteorologists,
can now make long-range predictions
from the temperature and movements
of the Polar air masses. For this reason,
Polar weather stations are most important to us in our daily lives. The men
who work at these stations actually live
in the midst of the planet's weather factories, and so can tell us what is being
manufactured.
But summer does come to the Polar
Regions, and it brings some changes. In
the Arctic, temperatures may rise to 60
or 70 degrees above zero, and a great
deal of ice and snow melts, exposing
the ocean and large expanses of ground.
In the Antarctic, the temperature never
rises above the freezing point of 3 2 degrees Fahrenheit, even in the summer,
but a day of bright sunlight may melt a
little snow and allow a few rocks to
stand out against the white landscape.
Interestingly enough, each is geologically different. AntCan the Polar
arctica is a fullRegions be
considered
fledged land mass,
real continents? equal in size to the
United States and all
of Europe combined, while most of the
Arctic is only a frozen ocean. Antarctica is, therefore, considered a continent, but the Arctic is a zone, with the
North Pole at its center.
10

This is one of the reasons for the

difference in temperature between the
two regions. Since a land mass cannot
conserve heat as well as water can, Antarctica is much colder than the Arctic.
In the North, the Arctic Ocean acts as
a moderating influence, retaining the
summer heat for a much longer time. In
the South, the Polar snows remain intact
during the summer, and their stark
whiteness reflect the heat of the sun
right back into space.
Antarctica, the South Polar continent,
looks like a big
What is the shape
cook'1e w1'th sev. ?
f
o Antarctica.
l d
b'
era
eep 1tes
taken out of it. It is roughly centered
around the Pole, and its irregular shape
contains a multitude of bays and harbors. Three of the world's major oceans
meet at Antarctica, where they form a
giant ocean encirding the continent.
They are the Atlantic, the Pacific, and
the Indian Oceans, and at the shores of
the continent, are individual seas which
have been named for some of the explorers who risked their lives at this
end of the Earth. Amundsen, Bellingshausen, Ross, and Weddell are some of
the names immortalized in the bodies
of water that lap against the massive
ice of the continent.
The interior, as well, has many places
named after famous people. Mountains,
plateaus, and ice shelves bear the names
of their discoverers or of the sponsors
who sent the expeditions. There is no
other continent where the names of
places so reflect the men who went to
find them. Perhaps., this is because the
exploration of Antarctica has been the

The Antarctic continent

as it would appear if
its ice sheet could be
made

to

disappear.

Measurements taken recently with special instruments indicate that

much

of what was

thought to be "land"
is actually "solid ice"
frozen far below sea
level.

Our

illustration

shows Palmer Peninsula

as a chain of islands.

most difficult task of its kind in the

history of man.
Since there is solid land under Antarctica's ice, it is beAre there natural lieved that rich deresources in
posits of mineral
Antarctica?
and other resources
must lie deep below the ice. But before
these deposits can be mined, some way
must be found to withstand the weather.
Warm, moist air from the tropical regions moves north over the continent
during the winter, but is chilled immediately. The moisture settles out as a snow
blizzard, while the winds develop hurricane force. Year after year, the ice and
snow covering Antarctica thickens. The
weight now bearing down on the land
is increased by millions of tons. It erodes
the mountains, buries research stations,
and changes the day to day appearance
of the continent.
It is believed that the weight of the
ice layer is so great that the land itself
has been compressed below sea level.
It has also been estimated that Antarctica contains some 90 per cent of all the
ice and snow in the world! This is a
tremendous amount to be concentrated
in one relatively small area. Fortunately,

Comparative sizes of Antarctica and the United

States of America.

this weight is roughly centered on the

Polar axis, or the rotation of the planet
might be affected, causing it to wobble
like a top that is heavier at one end.
During a symposium in the summer
of 1963, Dr. Charles R. Bentley, Professor and member of the University of
Wisconsin's Geophysics and Polar Research Center, gave some data resulting
from American and Russian findings
during the International Geophysical
Year. The mean fall of fresh snow is
about one. and a half feet over a total
area of about 4,500,000 square miles;
the mean temperature the year round is
67 degrees below zero Fahrenheit; the
ice at the South Pole was found to be
9,000 feet thick; and the continent is
covered by 22 quadrillion ( 22,000,000,000,000,000) tons of ice.
11

SNOWY OWL OF
THE ARCTIC

12

ARCTIC POPPY

SEA BLUEBELLS BLOOM

AT THE SHORES OF
THE ARCTIC OCEAN

SPIDER SAXIFRAGE, AN OTHER TUNDRA PLANT

The North Pole differs greatly from the

South Pole in
What is the
that it is not surgeography of the
rounded by a
North Polar Region?
land mass. As
noted earlier, the Arctic Region consists
of an ocean and parts of continents and
islands contained within the Arctic
Circle.
Expeditions to the North Pole are
always faced with the problem of its
moving ice. Because it is really a thick
sheet floating on the ocean, it very often
cracks and separates, sometimes right
under the tents of the explorers. Some
expeditions have found themselves split
in two when the ice broke and a group
of tents, dogs, and men began to drift
away on the frigid Arctic Ocean.
During the summer, the sheet of ice
shrinks, and .some parts of the land
within the Arctic Circle begin to be

ARCTIC PINNACLED ICEBERG

freed from the grip ~f wi~ter. Marshy

barren lands appear, swift-moving
streams run down from the heights to
the sea, and plants make an effort to
grow as rapidly as they can during the
short warm months. These months are
few. Soon, winter returns with blizzards
14

that blanket the lands and bitter cold

that freezes even the salt water in the
ocean.
The iceberg is one of the greatest menaces to ships and their
How are ice- .

d? cargoes that must

.
b ergs f orme .
travel the extreme
northern or southern routes. Some are
so large that they tower hundreds 9
feet into the air and extend for lengths
of many miles. One was measured at
one hundred miles! But the real danger
lies beneath the surface of the water
because no matter how large an iceberg
appears on the surface, there are seveneighths more beneath. Some have sharp
spurs that extend well out beyond the
mass. Should an iceberg turn over near
a ship, these spurs can rip its metal as
though it were made of cardboard.
There are three basic forms of floating ice formations - the Arctic iceberg,
the Antarctic iceberg, and pack ice.
Each kind is different because each is
formed differently. In the North Polar
Region, many of the lands within the

Arctic Circle are mountainous and contain glaciers. A glacier is a river of ice
created by the snow which falls upon
the land year after year. It is eventually
compressed into ice by its own weight.
But like the water from which it originally came, ice is also somewhat fluid.
These rivers of ice slowly and sluggishly
flow downhill into the ocean. They are
sometimes hundreds of feet thick and,
at the mouth of the glacial river, huge
sections will break off and thunder into
the water. This is known as "calving."
These northern icebergs are craggy and
irregular, but with interesting shapes
sculptured by the winds and the sun.
In the Antarctic, the icebergs are
quite different and make the waters
around Antarctica so dangerous that
Admiral Byrd named them the "Devil's
Graveyard." The entire continent is
covered with a sheet of ice, and each
winter adds more. This ice flows outward from the center of the continent
to the surrounding waters. But when it
reaches the edges of the land, it does
not break off immediately. Thick

shelves, which extend outward over the

oceans for many miles, form. Some of
these shelves are permanent formations
in Antarctica, and may have existed for
thousands of years.
The Ross Ice Shelf, well known as a
base camp for many expeditions, is such
a phenomenon. In .some places, it
reaches out for 500 miles! But that is
not all that is astonishing about it. The
Ross Ice Shelf ranges in thickness from
600 to 1000 feet! We could say that it's
the world's largest "ice cube." At the
seaward edge of this massive shelf, huge
blocks of ice continually break away
and float out into the ocean.
All around the circumference of Ant.

TYPICAL FLAT-TOPPED ANTARCTIC ICEBERG

arctica, these ice shelves "calve" into

icebergs. They do not resemble the
Arctic bergs at all. There are no towering mountains of shimmering . ice
flashing in the sun. These icebergs are
flat-topped smooth masses that resemble huge rafts.
The third menace whichsailors must
be wary of is pack ice. This, unlike the
other formations, is salt water that the

ArftTc, oanger:

The camp of an expedition is set

adrlft by flo.a ting ice that has broken and split.

' . ..l
.

/; , -, .'

15

winter has frozen. In both Polar Regions, large stretches of ocean water
develop a thick frozen crust of ice, a
crust so strong that it will bear great
weight. But when spring comes and the
sun, high in the sky, warms the waters,
this pack ice begins to soften. Great
cracks appear and as more and more of
the ice sheet crumbles, the sections
begin to grate and grind against each
other. If the ocean itself becomes restless, these slabs of ice smash violently,
tossing pieces high into the air.
In the Arctic, the breaking of the
pack ice is a sure promise of spring and
warmer weather. For weeks, the air is
filled with roar and rumble as though a
battlefi~ld were nearby. Since sound
carries over much greater distances in
such cold climates (a dog's bark can be
heard ten to twelve miles away!), it can
deafen a listener many miles off. I~ is
one of nature's most dramatic displays
of sight and sound.
Once free of winter's grip, the pack
ice begins to drift away from the ends
of the Earth into the oceans surrounding the Poles. Since it is thinner, it melts
much more rapidly than the icebergs,
but still endangers ships.
The earth is a huge magnet. It possesses
a magnetic field
What are the
around it as though
Magnetic Poles?
a powerful bar
magnet were embedded in its center.
Of course, there is no bar magnet in
the center of the earth. Scientists believe
that the main source of the earth's magnetism is within the cores of the earth.
These c<?.res are probably made of a
combination of iron and nickel. They
are under tremendous pressure and are
16

very hot. The inner core, a sphere 1, 600

miles in diameter, is probably solid. The
outer core, 1,400 miles thick and 1,800
miles beneath the earth's surface, surrounds the inner core. The outer core is
probably like a very stiff paste. Slow
movements of the inner core within the
outer core, and movements within the
outer core itself, produce the earth's
main magnetic field. Just as in a bar
magnet where the electricity is strongest
at the poles, the earth's magnetism is
strongest at the Poles too, only the
Magnetic. Poles are 11ot located exactly
at the position of the geographic Poles,
but about 1200 miles away from .them.
They deflect our compass needles and
are the cause of another natural phenomenon, the Auroras.
During spring and fall, both Polar Regions treat the obWhat is the
.
. ? server to two of the
A urora Borea I1s.
most beautiful natural displays known to man. They are
the Aurora Borealis in the North and
The Magnetic Poles are about 1200 miles away from
the geographic Poles; there are indications that
once they were at the same location.

The Aurora, as it appears as electrical

"fireworks" in the sky (left), and diagrammatically (below). The colored areas
are Auroras concentrated near the Magnetic Poles.
.,,, .... ., .
/ '=-'
,-' ~v.

AURORA AUSTRALIS

,,..,,,
the Aurora Australis in the South.
Shimmering sheets of brilliant color appear _in the night sky. They take many
shapes, sometimes looking like long
streamers, and at other times like giant
waterfalls of light that seem to plunge
from the depths of space itself. The
Aurora Borealis glows in delicate yellows, pinks, or lilacs; and the Aurora
Australis, in pale green - all against
the dark backdrop of a sky studded with
the diamond-like glitter of the stars.
The Auroras are electrical displays
that have their beginnings in the activity
of our sun. During the spring and fall
seasons, the sun shoots off great blasts
of atomic particles which travel through
space at extreme speeds. As. they near
the Earth, our magnetic field directs
them toward the Magnetic Poles, just
the way a small magnet attracts a steel
needle. These particles, however, are
solid bits of matter, even though they

I
\

/I

,
;r

/J '

t
\

---

............. ___ ___

c.. ....

AURORA BOREALIS

are extremely tiny, and when they enter

the atmosphere, they collide with the
atoms of our air.
These collisions, and there are millions at a time, result in a release of
energy. This energy creates a glow in
the sky that wavers and streams as
though it were alive. Some Auroral displays have been so brilliant that they
have been seen thousands of miles away
from the Poles themselves, awesome
demonstration of the forces at work in
our solar system.
Should our space traveler arrive during such an event, he might well marvel
at the majesty of our planet. Even more
wonderful is the fact that such natural
beauty is born in the most desolate parts
of the Earth.

Life near the Poles

Now, let us imagine that our space
traveler has come very close to the
Earth in a tight orbit that brings him
within one hundred miles of the surface.
He would carefully scan every land mass

that swept beneath him as he searched

for signs of intelligent life. He would
find a great deal on the major continents. Cities can be seen from that
height, and the geometric shapes of cul17

tivated land are also apparent. If he

used a telescope, he would discover
roads, bridges, and perhaps large
buildings.
But when the alien space craft traversed the Polar Region, the signs of
life would almost disappear. In the winter, there is almost none. In the summer,
there would be some indications of plant
and animal life, but not very much.
The voyager from the stars would be
tempted to conclude that the Polar
Regions cannot support life to any great
degree, and that if there were any living
creatures in the zones, they would have
to be very primitive life forms.
He would be completely wrong.
While the Polar Regions do not teem
with life, there are populations of plants
and animals that cling tenaciously to a
precarious existence in the blizzardswept regions. There are plants, animals, birds - and human beings.
Actually, there is very little life at the
Poles proper, but as one travels south
from the North Pole and north from the
South Pole, more and more signs of
life become evident. It is amazing to see
Arctic willow (left),

sprawling plant normally, hugs the ground

even more in the tundra
to escape the ravages
of the blistering winds.

Black spruce (right), an

upright tall tree in the
rest of the world, creeps
along the ground in the
Arctic Region.

the varieties of plants and animals that

manage to survive in an area where the
weather is unfavorable and the food
supply is at a minimum.
At the Poles themselves, there are no
plants at all. The
What kind of
permanent ice
plants grow in
cover does not althe Polar Regions?

low any kind of

rooting and the seeds that may be blown
to these areas can never find a foothold.
But several hundred miles away from
the Poles are zones of windswept rock,
and in the Arctic Zone, even some
earth. These furnish a frontier for the
very special plants that can manage to
live under such conditions.
The plant family known as the
lichens is perhaps the hardiest plant
family in the world. Lichens need only
a scrap of bare rock as a base. As they
grow, their tendrils explore every crack
and crevice as they seek a place to hold
against the wind and obtain nourishment from. Most rocks contain' minerals
released by the physical and chemical
forces of the atmosphere, and the
lichens use these minerals for food. In
addition, they are extremely resistant to
cold and dryness. They are a perfect
Polar plant, and they exist in both Polar
regions on outcroppings of rocks. Some
scientists believe that lichens may be
found on the planet Mars, where the
conditions are thought to be somewhat
similar, but even more rigorous.

Arctic

mosses

come to life when

the snow melts.

The many mosses that crop up after

the snow melts in the North Polar Region and the edges of Antarctica create
a panoramic carpet of color. Vivid reds,
rich greens, and deep blues appear in
the desolate coastal reaches of Antarctica and windswept tundra of the Arctic.
The Arctic flaunts thick grasses, ferns,
and flowering plants, but only a flowering grass and a variety of carnation give
a touch of summer to Antarctica.
(See the How and Why Wonder Book
of Mushrooms, Ferns, and Masses if
you would like to find out more about
how these plants live.)
The Polar tundra is an area of northern barren lands that begins some five
hundred miles below the North Pole.
During the winter, it is completely snow
laden, but in the summer, the tundra
comes to life. There are no trees at all
in Antarctica, and no trees near the
North Pole. But in the barren lands of
the tundras that cover northern Alaska,
Greenland, Canada, and Siberia, some
tiny dwarfed willows may be found.
That is why the Indians call the tundra
"the land of little sticks.',' There are not
enough to even forin a forest, and a
single tree is a landmark in the endless
sweep of open land. (See also P. 13.)
Insects, also, face the problems of living
through the fanAre there insects in t
.
as t"1ca ll y co ld
the Polar Regions?
winters in the
Polar Regions. Like the hardy plants,

there are also rugged species of insects

that can either hibernate through the
cold periods or lay eggs which remain
dormant until a warm spell. The Antarctic has only forty-four species of insect.s, mostly mites, ticks, flies, lice, and
one variety of mosquito. Their source
of livelihood is the penguin, and these
insects make the most of the short summer to feed and reproduce before their
period of hibernation.
The Arctic Zone is quite different.
Much of the land within the Arctic
Circle becomes swampy during the
spring thaw, and thousands of insect
species flourish. They are relatives of
the familiar flies, mosquitos, bees, butterflies, and the many ground-crawling
bugs that we see during the summer in
our own cpuntry. Since there are many
more plants and animals in the Arctic,
these insects find it easier to survive than
do the relatively few species that inhabit
the southernmost continent of the
Earth.
Strangely enough most Polar life lives
in the icy seas. One
Why does most would think that
of the Polar life
the waters, somelive in the sea?
times only a few
degrees above freezing, would not be
a proper environment for life, but it
is. The cold Polar waters are very rich
in oxygen. The .warmer currents that
flow from the temperate regions toward
the Poles bring concentrations of minMicroscopically

tiny

young

jelly-

fish and minute crustacea are part

. of the plankton upon which many
of the aquatic animals in the Polar
Regions feed.

19

The whales are the largest

animals, and the blue
whale, also called sulfurbottom whale, is the biggest of them all. It can
grow as long as 11 0 feet
and weigh as much as 11 5
tons. It is larger than even
the

largest dinosaurs.

It

lives in the Antarctic seas

with several other smaller
members of the family.

The prize catch of whaling men, the sperm whale,

lives in both Arctic and Antarctic waters.

.!P~...,.:::.-.,.-.--

""'.!.-:""- ........ - .........

--=.;;._~-~.....:::.:.z-.;s.

Whales are peaceful animals which live on plankton

with the exception of the ore, or killer whale.

erals. This combination, despite the

extreme cold, supplies food for the microscopic plants and animals known as
"plankton." Polar seas teem with plankton. By comparison, the tropic seas are
empty of them. These plankton are the
basic food supply of the inhabitants of
the Polar seas. Many kinds of fish use
plankton for food and these fish, in turn,
nourish the large aquatic mammals.
Biologically, the aquatic mammal is the
same as a land
What is an
mammal. It is
aquatic mammal?
warm - blooded,
breathes air, and bears live young that
it nurses with its own milk. But the
aquatic mammal is adapted to live in
the sea. It has flippers instead of legs,
a sleek body for swimming, and the ability to hold its breath for many minutes.
Among the aquatic mammals, we
find the seals, the whales, the porpoises,
the dolphins, and the walruses.
The Polar Regions have the greatest
concentration of aquatic mammals on
.the planet. This is due to the abundance
of food there, and the ability of these
creatures to withstand extreme cold.
Contrary to popular beli~f, fish are not

Porpoises and dolphins are

members of the whale family.

cold-blooded. Fish have no way of keeping their blood at a constant temperature, and their bodies always have the
temperature of the environment. If the
water is warm, the fish is warm; if the
water is cold, the fish is cold. If the water
gets too cold, the fish dies. But the mammals are able to keep their blood at a
constant temperature, _no matter what
the environmental conditions are, and
that is why the aquatic mammals thrive
in the icy waters near the Poles.

misfortune to the man who kills one.

With a wingspread of ten to twelve feet,
this bird is a perfect glider. It soars
effortlessly for hundreds of miles as it
searches with sharp eyes for fish.
Accompanying him in his hunt are
the tern (a remarkable bird in that it
ranges from the North Pole all the way
to the South Pole and back again), the
snow and stormy p_etrels, and the fierce
Found everywhere in the Polar Regions are the seals,
the most common and peaceful of the aquatic mam-

There are no land mammals on the Antarctic contiAre there any birds
nent, and the
in the Polar Regions?
reasons are
apparent. There is almost no food to be
found. Plants are rare, and birds are the
only wild life.
In both the Arctic and the Antarctic,
there are many varieties of birds. Some
brave the weather all year, while others
migrate to warmer climates when winter sets in. It is in the Antarctic regions
that the albatross wings its way over
endless seas. Sailors believe that the albatross brings good luck to a ship, but

mals. They wander the icy waters in huge herds and

congregate on rocky islands in the mating season.
They, too, have a killer in the family, the Arctic sea
leopard. Living only in the Arctic, the walrus, with its
ivory tusks, is a relative of the s~als.

Seals have to surface

for air at least once
every 10 minutes. That's
why they chew passages into the ice (illustration at the left) and
keep the breathing
holes open for exit onto
the ice as well.

21

South Polar skua. They all look for

fish. In the southern Polar Region, the
sea is the only source of food.

THE SKUA, A RAIDER OF

PENGUIN ROOKERIES

I,
'j

I
I

The most astonishing birds in the world

are the penguins
What bird can
h . h b" h .
. I1'k ea flas h? t at m a 1t t e icy
swam
shores of Antarctica. They are flightless birds whose
wings have evolved into efficient paddles. These appendages, plus powerful
webbed feet, make the penguin an expert swimmer. Since its only food is
fish, the penguin has learned to swim
as well as most fish. It can dive into the
water so smoothly that hardly a ripple
is left on the surface. Then it ranges
deep under the water, moving like a
silent torpedo. When a penguin leaves
the water, it must hurl himself into the
air since it is impossible for it to climb
up on the ice.
On the ice, a penguin waddles about
in a most comical manner. The bird's
dark back and wings and white chest
make it look as though it is eternally
dressed for a formal occasion. Penguins
build little nests of pebbles, and males
and females take turns during the incubation period of their eggs. Groups
of thousands follow explorers in a curious and friendly manner. (See also
P. 12.)
The warm-blooded living creatures of
the extreme
How can land a_nimcils
North and
withstand the cold
in the Polar Regions?

South are
born with
built-in mechanisms that enable them
to cope with the bitter living conditions
that prevail.

22

The first is insulation. The birds are

equipped with thick layers of sleek,
closely packed, and oily feathers. The
mammals are heavily fQrred, some with
a double layer; this fur is oily, too.
Underneath the skin is an extra layer
of fat. So, they are all well padded.
Obviously, the most vulnerable parts
of an animal or bird are the legs. But
they cannot be bulky with thick fur or
a layer of fat. That would hamper muscle movement and make them less agile.
The problem of keeping the legs warm
is solved by nature in another way entirely. All Polar creatures have increased blood circulation to the legs.
This additional flow of blood that has
been kept warm within the larger mass
of the body keeps the legs from .freezing. However, the blood could cool in
the legs and, when it returns to the heart
and lungs, chill them seriously. Thereore, to prevent the blood from cooling
too much, the major blood vessels,
veins, and arteries are placed more
closely together in the center of the
legs than in other animals. A network
of capillaries radiates from them to
reach the edges of the skin, and the
main vessels inside stay protected. In

addition, the cooler blood is warmed as

it returns to the lungs since the veins
are located alongside the warmer arteries. The entire system is a model of
design and efficiency.
This adaptation against cold serves
another purpose. Only a very deep
wound would reach a major blood vessel and the Polar animal can sustain the
cuts, gashes, and bites it must endure
without losing much blood.
The final adjustment to the Polar
climate is a constant _appetite. Food is
converted into heat and nourishment
by the biological processes of the body.
To stay warm and healthy, Polar animals eat often. In the temperate and
tropic zones, animals eat heavily and
can relax until the next meal. The Polar
animals do not live so simple a life. They
must be constantly on the prowl for
food. Fortunately, it is there to be
found.
The polar bear, or "Nanook," as the Eskimos call him, is
What animal is
the King of the
called "the King . North. Adapted
of the North"?

to every form of
terrain that the Arctic region can offer,

The protective coloring of their fur makes the Arctic hares (below) and the
weasel or ermine in its winter coat (at right) blend perfectly into their snowcovered world.

23

!
1,

Na nook can run across the ice faster

than a man, climb rocks and ice ridges,
and swim through the water with great
agility. His snow-white fur camouflages
him perfectly, and he can stalk his prey
in complete silence. Nanook is feared
by both animals and men in the icy
North for the strength contained in his
thousand-pound body makes him a
powerful fighter.
Fallowing the polar bear in his ceaseless quest for food is the Arctic fox, a sly
bright-eyed member of the canine family who waits until Nanook has finished
his meal and then feasts on what he
leaves behind.
The Arctic wolf, heavily furred and
powerfully built~ is
Which animal is not only the most
the fastest runner
in the North?

intelligent animal
of the Far North,
but also the fastest. Hunting in small
groups or even singly, an Arctic wolf
can run down the swift snow-white Arctic hare and corner the shaggy musk ox
and caribou. This animal will even
creep up on an unsuspecting bird that
settles on the ice for a moment.
____ Despite his hunting skill and ferocity,

the wolf is not a danger to man in the

Arctic. Although he fears no one, except Nanook, he will lope away from
the scent of a man, and hunt him only
when there is no other food to be found.
When he hunts in the tundra region,
he finds plenty of game. Little lemmings
(certain small rodents), moles, and
other burrowing animals dart about on
the frozen ground while northern birds
like geese and ptarmigan (a species of
grouse) nest in the hollows.
You read that Nanook, the bear,
is fast, and
Did a polar bear
th t th
ever catch a penguin?
~
e p~ngum can swim
like a fish. Do you know why no polar
bear has ever caught a penguin? If one
had, the penguin meat might have been
a welcome change in diet. The question
is a trick question, and you know the
answer if you have read carefully up to
now. Ask your friends. If they don't
know, tell them that the distance between the North Polar Region and the
South Polar Region is just too great,
even for a hungry polar bear. Polar
bears live only in the Arctic, and penguins, only in Antarctica.

THE GRIZZLY BEAR

OF THE TUNDRA

WOLVERINE OR GLUTTON,
A NIGHT PROWLER
ALONG THE COAST OF
THE ARCTIC OCEAN.

24

The People Who First Lived 1n the Arctic

Unreel the spool of time and spin it
backwards. Let the years, like thread,
sift through your fingers and your mind.
Spin it faster and watch the centuries
of the past appear one after another
until the years number in the thousands.
Stop when you arrive at a time some
twenty thousand years ago. Then, travel
north through the Great Plains, the Canadian wastes, and the snowy terrain
of Alaska. Follow Alaska till it ends at
its extreme tip, and move out across the
scattered islands until you reach the
Bering Strait. This is where, most anthropologists agree, the people who
first lived in the Arctic crossed into the
New Wofld before the dawn of written
history.
The Eskimos are the people of the Far
North who inWhere did the
habit the PoEskimos come from?
lar icecap and
the barren lands within the Arctic
Circle. Scientists beHeve that they came
from the broad plains of Mongolia, the
last group of a migration that began
twenty thousand years ago, when the

first of the Mongolian tribes crossed

the Bering Strait, perhaps on an ice
bridge, and that lasted for thousands of
years. No one is sure why they left their
old homelands. Perhaps they were
driven out, or maybe they were looking
for a land that would provide for them
more abundantly.
Another theory is that they followed
the slowly retreating glaciers after the
last ice age, moving north after the animals that were adapted to the cold
weather. The first emigrants became the
people we now know as American Indians; they moved south, slowly populating sections of North and South
America.
(Our How and Why Wonder Book

The polar bear is a fear-

less fighter, especially
in defense of his cubs.

.i

of the North American Indian tells the

exciting story of these people.)
The ancestors of the Eskimos arrived
in a barren, bitterly cold region. But
when they tried to move 'farther south,
they undoubtedly found the lands welldefended by the tribes that had come
before them. They had no choice but to
remain in the frozen northlands and
find a way to survive in this most inhospitable part of the planet.

The Eskimo people are not backward,

just primitive.
Do Eskimos differ
Their
. onl y d.f
1 from other people? f
f
erence rom
other people of the world is that they
have learned to live, find food, and raise
their children in a region where a mistake means quick death.
The Eskimos are short in stature,
dark-haired, and have the high cheekbones and slanted eyes of the Mongolian. Almost all are good-natured, unloving, and rear their children with
great affection. One would think that
the Eskimos would be a hard, bitter
group with a temperament that reflected
the environment. This is not so. Although they impose strict disciplines on
their families, these men meet hardships
cheerfully, face death daily with deep
calm, and are perhaps the most hospitable people in the world.
Eskimos are established in northern
Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Labrador. Their daily lives there most
closely resemble those of the American
Indians. We are concerned here with
the most northern group, the people
who live on the icecap and are known as
Polar Eskimos. Theirs is the most prim-

26

itive culture in the world, with no tribes

and political organizations. These people travel as simple family units, just
as Stone Age men did far in the distant
past.
The igloo is the basic dwelling of the
Eskimo. The word
How is an
"
h
,, .
.19 100 bUI'It? means snow ouse m
the Eskimo language
and it is perhaps the most ingenious
house built by primitive people. An
igloo is made of the most common item
in the North - frozen water, or snow.
The wind-driven flakes of snow that
can mean death to an Eskimo when
they turn into a howling blizzard can
also save his life when he packs them
into blocks of snow to build an igloo ..
The igloo is constructed of blocks
of snow' stacked to form a hemispheric
dome. Using his semi-circular snow
knife, the Eskimo cuts blocks and then
stacks them around him in a circle. He
cuts them . at an angle so that they will
slope inward, and mounts them in a
continuously rising spiral. The Eskimo
builds his igloo from the inside, cutting
the blocks from a deep snowdrift
around his feet so that the floor sinks
as the structure rises. When he is done,
he is surrounded by a perfect dome
that covers a pit as deep as the dome is
high. This half-ball of a house is an
aero-dynamic design that' presents the
least resistance to howling winds. The
blizzards can whistle by, but they only
swirl harmlessly around the snug little
shelter.
. Once the igloo is finished, a small
hole is punched through the top to let
hot air escape, and a door is cut into

one side which leads into the covered

additional protection in that it both inpassageway that serves as an exit. Somesulates the shelter and reflects the heat
times, this passageway leads into a
back to the people.
smaller igloo which shelters the sled
The igloo is a truly efficient dwelling.
dogs. While the Eskimo is erecting his
It can maintain an internal temperature
shelter from the inside, the rest of his
that, in some cases, is ninety degrees
family is working outside, packing every
hig~er than the air outside! When the
crack and crevice with loose snow until
outer air temperature is 60 degrees bethe home is practically airtight.
low zero, . the temperature inside the
Skill in building an igloo rapidly
igloo can be as high as 32 degrees. Of
course, 32 degrees is not warm to us,
often means the difference between life
but to an Eskimo, it is s'teaming hot. He
and death. An Eskimo, alone on a hunting expedition and miles from his home, . . will remove all his clothes and bask in
will die rapidly in an Arctic blizzard.
the warmth. And remember, 32 degrees
Once he sees the signs of such a storm,
is the temperature at which water
he begins a small igloo for protection. If
freezes! This is a graphic demonstration
of the adjustments that the human body
he is fast - and they all are .or they do
not survive - he can make one in
can make.
twenty minutes. It is one of the necessiAs .n oted before, Eskimos do not
ties of North Polar existence and a true
travel in large groups. Each family lives
by itself, constantly P,unting food. But
survival technique.
when a lone traveler chances upon an
igloo, he is immediately welcomed and
The interior of a family igloo is very
simple. There is no
fed like an honored guest.
How is an igloo
.
Every spring, the Eskimos travel to
. h d . "d ? furmture, for an
f urn1s e ins1 e.
Eskimo carries all
a central meeting place where they enhis possessions on his back or on his
joy festivities, trade weapons and furs,
sled. The igloo is usually furnished with
and try to find husbands for their eligiseveral couches made of packed snow
ble daughters.
and covered with animal skins. They
serve.as seats, beds, and tables. A snow
These men of the North have developed
a marvelous
shelf on the curving wall holds a small
How do the Eskimos
stone oil lamp which spreads a warm
boat, the
travel on the water?
yellow glow. Food is kept in the paskayak. It is a
, sageway that leads outside. With a reslim craft, pointed at both ends, that
can be navigated by one or two men. Its
serve of food and oil at hand, an Eskimo
family can withstand the worst blizzard.
basic construction is a framework of
wood, or strips of whalebone, with a
After an igloo has been in use for a
few days, the heat of the oil lamp and
covering of walrus hide. The seat is
the body heat of its inhabitants melt the
enclosed in a tiny cockpit with laced .
inside layer of snow, which then reflaps that can be tightly wrapped
around the body of the boatman. This
freezes into an icy glaze. This glaze is
27

_ ;

f.

\
.

. ....

..-_,,,_,:,..,...

makes the entire craft watertight. It can

be turned over in the water, and the
boatman will stay dry from the waist
down. Using a kayak, an Eskimo can
make fairly long trips across very rough
open water.
There is a larger boat that can hold
an entire family. It is known as an
umiak, and is constructed on a broader
frame than the kayak. The beam is
wide, much like a rowboat, and it is not
de~cked. The umiak is used for carrying
supplies and food across stretches of
water.

I.
I

It is as a hunter on the ice where the

Eskimo shows his
How does the
.
. l
d
h ?
special
skil
an
.
Esk1mo unt.
.
. .
I
1magmat10n. .n recent years, Eskimos have acquire~
rifles. This has somewhat changed the
ancient hunting patterns, which were
quite inventive and interesting.
Their fishing is much like ice fishing
anywhere. A hole is chopped through
the ice, a baited hook is .lowered, with
28

'

the line fastened to a crossed stick that

will wave a flag when a fish takes the
hook. An Eskimo sets out many of
these. Then, he and his sons build a
windbreak of snow, and carefully watch
the flags. When one begins to bob
. violently, the line is pulled rapidly out
of the hole. The fish is tossed on the
ice - where it freezes instantly!
Seal-hunting is much more exacting.
Seals will tunnel up through the ice and
make a tiny air hole so they can breathe
without having to find open water. An
Eskimo waits patiently for days and
days at one of these holes, harpoon
poised and knife ready. When the seal
enters his vertical tunnel, the harpoon
is driven down, its barbs locking into
the flesh. Then, a monumental struggle
begins. The Eskimo must hold the
thrashing animal with his harpoon

Kayak and umiak are perfect means of transportation on water and just light enough to be carried, if
necessary, over ice.

The inside of the igloo is warm and comparatively

comfortable ,for as many as five people. Temperatures often go above 60 F.

The building of an igloo is an ingenious undertaking. (Doing it fast often makes the difference
between death and survival.) The hole you see
in Drawings 2 and 3 is just a temporary entrance.
Later, the real entrance is tunneled under the
snow as shown in Illustration 4. This way, the
howling wind cannot enter the igloo.

4-\. -- ....

$\

while he hastily breaks enough ice

around the hole to stab down with his
knife. Then, with the aid of his dogs,
he pulls the seal from the water. It will
supply his family with food for a week.
Walruses are usually harpooned in
open water and towed onto the ice.
They are more dangerous than seals
because of their weight and long tusks;
an Eskimo really risks his life during a
walrus hunt.
But the most dangerous game is Nanook, the polar bear. The Eskimo
prizes the white fur of Nanook and will
go to great lengths to kill him. But the
polar bear cannot be hunted at the same
clqse range used for the seal and walrus.
It is a resilient animal that cannot be
killed easily. In addition, a wounded.
bear is even more dangerous. Generally,
an Eskimo allows his dogs to scent out,
track, and surround a bear. Then, he
tries to injure it by casting spears. He
hopes to wound Nanook so severely that
the bear will soon bleed to death. This
is a touchy task. Many dogs are of ten
sacrificed to the savage rage of the bear,
and many ari Eskimo has been killed by
a single swipe of its powerful paw.
To avoid the fighting wrath of Nanook, the Eskimo has devised a most
unique weapon. When he spots the trail
of a bear, he prepares a set of whalebone strips, each about a foot in length.
These have been scraped quite fine and
have razor-sharp edges. Then, they are
rolled up like springs, and wrapped in
pieces of warm blubber. Holding the
blubber, the hunter leaves his igloo.
Outside, blubber freezes instantly, locking the knife-like springs inside. These
pieces of bait are set out where the
30

bear tracks were spotted. The Eskimo

waits patiently. When the bear finds one
of these tid-bits he swallows it whole.
Disaster! Inside its stomach, the blubber warms and melts. The coiled whalebone springs open, cutting the bear's insides to ribbons. Now, the Eskimo
moves out and slowly follows the track
of the dying bear. When death finally
comes, he loads the carcass on his sled
and brings it home.
These are only a few of the artful
ways in which the Eskimo hunts. But
he takes it for granted as being all in a
day's work. The important thing is to
find food~
The Eskimo hunts out of absolute necessity, and
What is the kill
uses almost
of the hunt used for?
every part of
the animals he kills. The meat and
blubber are used for food, and some- .
times eaten raw. This does not .sound
tempting to us, but a cooking fire is difficult to make, and such raw meat supplies the Eskimo family with the high
protein diet he needs for energy and
warmth.
Almost every other part of the animal's body has a use. Cured, the gut
and smews make fishing lines, dog

traces, and thongs to hold clothing together. Skins and fur hides are cured by
chewing! This is the woman's task. She
patiently chews on every bit of a hide
until it becomes soft and pliable. Then,
she cuts it into sections and joins them
to make clothing.
The cold-proof parka is .an Eskimo
design that we have copied for our own
winter clothes. Most Eskimo clothes are
loose-fitting, with the. fur inside; air
space between the hide and the body
is an excellent insulator against Arctic
cold. Eskimo boots, called mukluks,
resemble high moccasins and lace
tightly to keep the feet dry.
Walrus hides are used for boat hulls
and bones, and ivory tusks become
knives, spear points, and tools. Larger
pieces of bone and ivory are fashioned
into slit-eyed snow goggles to protect
the eyes against the brilliant glare of the
sun as it reflects from the ice. Some animal fat is used for food; the rest is
rendered into oil for the lamps. Even
the dogs share in the finds of the hunt,
eating whatever the Eskimo does not
use for himself. Nothing is wasted.
Since there is little else to be found in
the Arctic, the Eskimo makes every use
he can of the Arctic animals in his quest
for food, weapons, and utensils.

Without the sled dogs, it is doubtful

whether
To what animal does the th
E k. _
. I?.
e
s Id
1
Esk .1mo owe h'1s surv1va
mos wou
have survived. The relationship between an Eskimo and his team of Huskies goes far beyond the usual frie~dship
between man and animal.
As draft animals, the dogs pull a sled
effortlessly hour after hour, working
tirelessly in the service of their masters.
In the hunt, they track animals, bring
them to bay, and aid in the kill. The
Eskimo's obligation to his dogs is to
supply them with food (a Husky eats
as much as a man). So, both man and
animal work together to insure each
other's survival.
The Husky, probably brought over
from northeast Asia during the Eskimo
migration, is completely adapted to the
wintery North. He has a double coat of
fur, short insulated ears, and a bushy

FEATHER HITCH

A team of huskies hauls sled and load

with astonishing ease. The harnesses are
usually made of walrus hide and are
fitted to avoid interference with the dogs'
legs. The "fan hitch" is for travel in open
country, while the "feather hitch" is used
where obstacles can be expected and
driving has to be more accurate.

31

plume of tail that covers and warms his

nose and mouth when he sleeps in the
snow. His broad paws grip the ice
firmly, while his stocky body and deep
chest provide pulling power.
Without his dogs, an Eskimo could
never bring the kill of a hunt back to
his igloo, defend himself against the
polar bear, or find enough game. In his
constant fight for survival, they are his
assistants, protectors, and companions.
The people known as Eskimos inhabit
northern
Do other people live in A l
k
the North Polar Region?
a s a f'
parts o
Canada, Greenland, Labrador, as well
as the Polar icecap. However, two
other northern areas have primitive
tribal cultures that .brave the rigors of
the North Polar Region. In Siberia,
Komi, Kamchadals, Y akuts, Samoyeds
(or Nentsy), Tungus, Koryaks, Yukaghirs, and Chukchi roam the barren
tundra. They do not live quite the same
life as the Eskimos because the tundra
terrain is different. Some of these people are reindeer-herders and, in this occupation, they resemble the Laplanders,
or Lapps, who inhabit the northern extremes of Russia's Kola Peninsula, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Many
Lapps are blond and blue-eyed, the
result of marriage with Scandinavians.

As a result of the spread of other peoples to remote

What is happening
.
t o d ay.? corners of the
t o th e Esk 1mo
world, and the
scientific importance of the North Polar
Region in general, the Eskimos are
slowly being modernized. They hunt
with rifles, live in settlements, and send
their children to school. Many of the
men have learned trades, and their long
heritage of inventiveness makes them
wonderful mechanics.
But the Eskimos also show artistic
skill. Many of their implements are decorated with delicate intricate drawings
and designs. Some depict hunting
scenes; others have interesting ornamentation. Recently, the Canadian
Government has been encouraging the
creativity of the Eskimo and, as a result,
many Eskimos are making stone sculptures. These works of art can be bought
in many of our big cities; the profits are
returned to the artists.
The old ways are going. The modern
Eskimo is taking advantage of new
opportunities. This is all to the good,
for the life span of these people has increased, and their numbers are growing.
For a time, it was feared that the Eskimos were a vanishing race. Now, it
appears that the Eskimo will eventually
become a valuable member of the world
. community.

The Men Who Found the Poles

Men have always searched for distant lands. They had many motives glory, financial reward, or perhaps a
longing for adventure and danger. No
matter what the motives w~re, they led
32

to the discovery of new places, and new

passageways. The Polar Regions have
always challenged man. Many set out,
only to be conquered by the hazards.
Many were turned back by the forbid-

Eskimo mother and child show typical Asiatic features.

A Norwegian Lapp mother and child. The Lapps,

related to neither the Asiatic nor the modern European races, are the remnant of Europe's aboriginals.

Lapps with their most valuable livestock, the reindeer.

33

ding conditions. Some triumphed, but

the victory was hard-won. Polar explorers did not return with shipholds filled
with gold or native art. They came
home, those that did return, with frostbitten fingers and toes, stories of strange
icebound lands, and a wealth of scientific information.
Reaching the top or bottom of the
world became a grand prize. When
finally done, the achievement was the
result of hard bitter work; planning,
and endurance; the agony of seeing
comrades die; the personal hardships of
hunger, weariness, and struggle; the
anguish of defeat and tragedy.
The Poles were not easily won. The
forces of nature exert their greatest
power in the Polar Regions'. They put
up barriers to the progress of man that
are as relentless as the movements of
the planets around the sun - and just
as impersonal. Whether men are there
or not, the elements go their brutal way.
The winds howl and drive the thick
clouds of snow. The icy cold of space
grips the Poles each winter. The seas
rage and ice floes smash ahead.
Yet men pushed to find the Poles.
Century after century, expedition after
expedition, brave explorers outfitted
themselves and set sail for the ends of
the earth. None of them had ever set
foot on this ground, and it was a beckoning challenge. The spirit of their
quest is best defined on a stark cross
that stands at the South Pole in memory
of Robert Scott and his men, who died
there in 1912:
"To strive, to seek,
To find,
And not to yield."
34

TO THE NORTH

Around 325 B.C., the Greeks chose a

man to sail to the
Who was the first
North. They were
explorer to see
the frozen North? not interested in
the North Pole,
but in the British Isles and the northern
part of Europe. They wanted to set up
overland trade routes to assure their
supply of tin and amber. The man the
Greeks selected was a scientist and a
scholar. His name was Pytheas, a quiet
student of geography and astronomy.
But how to elude the Carthaginians
who controlled the sea lanes through
the Straits of Gibraltar, and find a way
to the North?
Pytheas 4id succeed in avoiding the
Carthaginians and sailing due north.
He visited all the islands that are now
known as Great Britain, explored the
Germanic coastline of Europe, and
traveled up along the rocky coast of
Norway. No one knows how far he
went, or if he actually crossed the Arctic
Circle, but his reports show that he did
get close to the Polar Region.
The ancient Greek considered Norway the end of the world. Pytheas
claimed to have seen beyond it. He was
the first man from the civilized world of
his time to see the frozen Arctic Ocean,
to witness the strange midnight sun, and
to wonder at the glory of the Aurora
Borealis. He was the first Arctic explorer.
To be sure, this Arctic venture was
not the purpose of his voyage, but it
turned out to be the most important.
He broght back news of a strange
region of the Far North where winter,

with its ice and snow, reigned the year

round.
Polar exploration subsided after Pytheas' journey. In
How far north did
'k'
? those days, there
. l
b
t he v1 mgs exp 1ore.
was 11tt e to e
gained from a venture into icebound
seas, and, besides, the European people
were too busy expanding into lands
warmed by temperate winds. But many
centuries later, the hardy vikings of
Norway began sailing into strange
waters. They were born explorers who
were ever on the lookout for new lands
to colonize. Since they came from a
northern country, their voyages took
them through parts of the North Atlantic, and they must have traversed some
of the seas beyond the Arctic Circle.
The viking colonization of Iceland
about 870 A.D. was a first step toward the discovery of North America.
A migratory group of Irish monks were
already settled there! In the following
century, Eric the Red made his way to
Greenland. Then, his son, Leif, finally
reached North America itself.
Other vikings went in different directions. Around the same time, a viking
sea captain named Ottar sailed up the
coast of Norway, rounded the tip of
North Cape, and headed east. It was
the first authenticated voyage in history
into Arctic waters.
N~ar

the end of the 15th century, the

Italian navWhy were some nations i g a t
r ,
0
suddenly interested
Christ 0 _
in Polar exploration?

pher Columbus, tried to reach the lands of the

Far East by sailing west around the

globe, but he ran into the immovable
barrier of the continents of North and
South America. Once it was established
that'these continents were not Asia but
other huge land masses, the leaders and
businessmen of some European nations
began to send expeditions in an attempt
to discover . a passage through, or
around, them.
Explorers traveled the broad American rivers, hoping they would prove to
be channels leading through the two
continents. They probed up and down
without success. The Americas, thousands of miles wide, stretch almost from
Pole to Pole. It was a hopeless task.
Other men decided that the way to
solve the problem was to somehow sail
around the continents. Magellan discovered a route that went around the
southern tip of South America, but it
proved to be an extremely long and difficult trip. So, a search began for a
northwest or northeast passage right
over the top of the world.
In 1553, the British merchants sent out
three ships in
How far did the first
ff
an e ort to
Polar voyagers get?
reach the fabled lands of the Orient. Trying to find
a northeast passage, they sailed northward along the coast of Norway, following the path of Ottar the Viking, and
then turned east. The captain of the
fleet, Sir Hugh Willoughby, had grea.t
faith in a northeast passage, but the
voyage. ended in tragedy. Two ships,
marooned on a northern Russian peninsula, were caught by the mighty
winter; Willoughby and his men per35

' 'Il

ff

'

ished. The third ship, however, found

a Russian port in the White Sea and
returned safely when the winter was
over.
The man who began the drive for a
northwest passage was another Englishman, Martin Frobisher. He made three
westward expeditions, his first in 157 6;
the second, the following year; and the
third in 1578. Each venture followed
the coastline of Greenland down to its
southern tip, then made a northwest
traverse into a likely waterway. It
proved, however, to be only a huge bay.
This body of water, now known as Frobisher Bay, is just below the Arctic
Circle and the farthest he went.
Frobisher's countryman, John Davis,
followed this course in 1587, but he
turned due north after rounding Greenland and sailed deep into the icy waters
of Baffin Bay. Although this took him
well above the Arctic Circle, Davis did
not find a northwest passage. Instead,
island after island blocked his path.
However, Davis returned with a great
deal of technical information about the
Arctic; he was the first man to seriously
study the Eskimos.
The English were followed by the
Dutch. William
What was the next
Barents left the
nation to try a
comfort of his
Pol~r passage?
home in 1596
and, for a third time, tried a northeast
passage. He took the standard route
around Norway and reached an icy sea
which was named for him by later
geographers. This voyage was his most
successful; he attained a point some
600 miles from the Pole. Then, the
36

Arctic trapped him. Pack ice piled

around his ship and began to crush it.
Realizing that he and his crew would
have to brave the Arctic winter, Barents
led his men across the ice to the barren
island of Novaya Zemlya. They built a
house where they survived the winter.
In spring, when the pack ice began to
break, Barents decided to make an open
boat voyage to the Kola Peninsula, the
northwest ti'p of ArctiC Russia. It was
his last voyage. His crew survived the
1600-mile trip but Barents died of
scurvy on the way.
The British, however, kept looking
for the northwest passage; they were
sure it existed. Henry Hudson made
four such trips between 1607 and 1611.
He never returned from the last. William Baffin, around 1615, went as far
north as possible along the western side
of Greenland. But nobody seemed to be
able to find a way through the maze
of islands and icebound seas, no matter
what direction was taken.
Czar Peter The Great was also determined to find a
What was Russia's
passage. In
contribution to early
1724, he hired
Polar exploration?
a Danish sea
captain, Vitus Bering, to find a clear
waterway. He was ordered to make a
5,000-mile overland trek, across northern Siberia, looping right around the
Arctic Ocean on land. At the town of
Okhotsk on the Pacific coast, he was to
build ships and set sail.
Bering made the land journey safely,
built his ships, and navigated around
the Kamchatka Peninsula. Then, he
turned north and discovered a narrow

, .... ,, ,

"

'
I

''
I

\
\
NOR'l\t POLE

BERING
BYRD
PEARY
VIKINGS
NAUTILUS
IRISH MONKS
PYTHEAS
ROSS
BARENTS
HUDSON

waterway that separated the East from

the West. Sailing into it, he saw the
frozen Arctic Ocean reaching far to the
north. A great discovery, the waterway
is now known as Bering Strait. Yet Bering had not actually sailed over the top
of North America. He repeated his voyage and, this time, sailed past the strait
that bears his name to land on Alaska.
Bering's voyages gave geographers
much new knowledge about the North.
They also obtained for Russia the vast,
wealthy territory of Alaska. The United
States purchased Alaska for a little over
seven million dollars in 1867. Today,
the strip of water that leads to the Arctic Ocean divides the lands of the two
greatest nations in the world.
After Bering's epic achievements,
many other expeditions began to explore the edges of the Arctic Circle,
adding to the knowledge of the area
with information about islands, ocean
currents, and the movement of the pack

ice. The many men would make a very

long list, but you can find most of them
on a map of the Arctic. Islands, bays,
seas, gulfs, and straits bear their immortal names.
Year after year, expeditions moved
closer and closer to the Pole. It gradually became the goal. A passage to the
Far East was still being sought, but it
became a point of pride to become the
first man to stand on top of the world.
It would also bring a wealth of prestige
to that man's country.
One important place in the North
does not bear the name of its discoverer.
The North Magnetic Pole is no more
than, a geographic point, but it is the
upper end of the giant magnet of the
Earth. James Clark Ross, who, as a
young man, had accompanied his uncle,
Sir John Ross, on a voyage to the Arctic in 1818, was the first man to locate
the place toward which our compass
needles swing. It has, however, wan-

One of the most tragic and fateful expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage was led by Sir John
Franklin, who commanded for the British Admiralty two new propeller-driven steamships in 1844, the H.M.S.

Terror and the Erebus. In 1 846,

he sailed into the Victoria Channel and never again were Franklin or any of his 1 29 officers
and men heard of. Their dis appearance inadvertently led to
the most extensive exploration
of the Arctic. At least 40 expeditions were sent out to solve the
mystery until, at last, in 1859, a
search party under Captain McClintock found in a stone cairn
on King William Island a paper
that told of the death of Franklin and his men of scurvy, hunger, and exhaustion.

McCLINTOCK'S MEN FIND THE STONE

CAIRN ON KING WILLIAM ISLAND

out into the free waters of the Pacific

Ocean! The Northeast Passage had at
last been accomplished.
In 1903, a Norwegian, Roald
Amundsen, took five other men aboard
his tiny sailing ship, the G joa. He
planned to skirt the top of North America and make a try for the Pole, as well.
The explorers settled into their first
winter in a cozy harbor at King William
Island, and made out so well that they
decided to stay for another winter.
Based at this harbor, Amundsen added
The Gjoa was just large enough to carry six men,
considerably to knowledge of the Arcbut under Amundsen's command, she reached her
goal - completion of the Northwest Passage.
tic by making maps, taking soundings
of the ocean, and studying the weather.
dered much further north and west
By the summer of 1905, he set sail
since that time; interestingly, the Magagain, working his way to the West.
netic Poles do not remain stationary.
Another winter was spent frozen-in
above Canada, but during the following
At the end of the nineteenth century, the
summer, he made his way through the
Bering Strait. Another goal had been
goal that had been
Were the passageht f
h
reached - the Northwest Passage!
ways ever found? soudg
or undre s of years by
Both journeys proved another point.
scores of men was finally achieved. Two
Although it was possible to make the
passage, it was not practical. Merchant
expeditions actually made a passage
ships would never be able to take adthrough the Arctic and reached the
vantage of the routes. The danger and
East!
the time consumed would make them
Swedish scientist and explorer Nils
commercially impossible.
A. E. Nordenskjold sailed from Sweden
Some time before Amundsen's voyin his ship, the Vega, in 1878. It was a
age, another Norwegian, Fridtjof Nanwarm July and he sailed northeast
sen, had embarked on a bold venture.
through a melting Arctic Ocean. F alThe drift of the pack ice had now been
lowing the northern coasts of Russia
observed and charted for many years.
and Siberia, the Vega came within 120
miles of the Bering Strait when winter
Nansen decided that much could be
struck. Although locked in the ice, the
learned by following that drift. He also
ship held together, and the men surhoped that the drift crossed the Pole itvived the blizzards and icy cold until the
self. In 1893, he sailed his speciallyfollowing spring thawed them out.
designed ship, the Fram, into the . ArcThen, two days of clear sailing brought
tic, where he deliberately allowed the
the expedition through the Strait and
pack ice to trap him. He wanted the ice
39

The sturdy Fram, Nansen's ship, locked in

Arctic ice to prove the
Polar ice drift.

to carry him to the Pole. Month after

month, t~e ice-locked ship drifted
slowly to the North. Nansen watched
his compass patiently, noted his observations, and hoped. It was a long, slow
wait. By 1895, he realized that he
. wouldn't make the Pole.
Then, the spirit of adventure took
over. Nansen and one member of his
crew, Hjalmar Johansen, left their comrades, hitched dogs to a loaded sled,
and left on skis for the North Pole. They
had to give up, but they traveled
farther north than anyone else had within 300 miles of their goal. Winter
descended again. The two. men built
a hut of stones and lived quietly. They
ate blubber and warmed themselves
with a whale oil lamp. In May of
1896, they started the weary trek to
the South. Then, by one of the greatest
coincidences in the history of exploration, th~y stumbled into the English expedition led by Frederick Jackson.
Jackson _took them home in August,
1896, and just a few days later, the
Fram arrived in fine shape.
40

Although he did not reach the Pole,

Nansen was still acclaimed as a hero.
His theory of the Polar ice drift was
confirmed, and he also brought back
some knowledge of the depth of the
Arctic Ocean near the Pole. Another
step toward understanding the Arctic
had been made.
Many men had tried it but Robert E.
Peary, an AmeriWho finally
reached the Pole?

can, was the first

man to stand on
top of the world. He had made a career
of Arctic exploration, traveling through
the barren northlands for more than
twenty years: But he had set his sights

on the North Pole. Nothing else would

satisfy this determined man. Passages to
the East did not interest him; science
was secondary. He wanted to get to the
Pole just because it was there, a seemingly unattainable place where no other
man had been.
Peary was an organizer. He planned
his final expedition like a military maneuver. He had studied the North for
a long time and made a decision that,
at first, seemed foolhardy. Peary decided to begin his attempt during the
winter! He reasoned that travel would
be easier since the ice was more stable
and more uniformly coated with snow.
Then, h~ divided his companions, Eskimo helpers, and dogs into teams.
These teams were to be advance sup-

port parties so that the final group

would be as fresh as possible. Shelters
would be constructed along the way to
make the return more comfortable, and
food was to be cached at specific places.
Mrs. Peary would come, too!
. In July of 1908, he sailed for Ellesmere Island, a large island just west of
Greenland and one of the northernmost
land masses near the Pole. A camp was
established on the northern tip of the
island and the plans were modified.
They then waited for winter. In February, an advance unit headed out into
the unknown regions. On the next day,
four other teams left. They were followed by Peary's group, composed of
Matthew Henson, his Negro. aide, four
Eskimos, arid the explorer himself.

Peary's party on its way to the Pole had to overcome

ice barriers which at first appeared insurmountable.

The goal is reached at !ast! Peary and his men stand

"on top of the world."

Slowly, the teams worked their way

north, setting up advance camps and
generally preparing the way.
On April 1st, their work was done
and Peary's team was on its own. He
began the last long push. Five days
later, April 6, 1909, Peary stopped to
make observations. He wanted to make
sure he was at the exact IOcation of the
Pole. He wasn't. Three more miles of
travel would do it. The weary party
moved on. Suddenly, they were there!
Peary took more observations. They
read 90 degrees north! At this point,
every direction was south. The team
had made it! The top of the world. The
Pole at last.

TO THE SOUTH
Three countries claim credit for discovery of the conWho discovered .
.
. ?
tment of Antarctica
t
Anarc
t
1ca.
~
-The United
States, England, and Russia.
It all began in the middle of the
eighteenth century when the British sea
captain, James Cook, left for the South
Seas. He was sent to see if there was a
continent at the southernmost end of
the earth. English scientists wanted to
prove, or disprove, an ancient belief
that a huge land mass far to the south
balanced the large northern continents.
When Cook, the first person to do
so, crossed theAntarctic Circle, he was
immediately surrounded by fog and
pack ice. He could not sail another inch
south. The experienced sailor backed
off and tried another approach. Although he crossed the Circle at three
42

different points, he never got close

enough to see the massive continent.
When James Cook returned to England, his reports indicated that further
exploration beyond the Antarctic Circle
was impossible. But his report told also
of the many whales and seals in the
southern oceans.
The whaling industry welcomed
eagerly the opportunity of new waters
to hunt in, and soon, whaling and sealing ships from many countries probed
the area. Although profitable, not one
ship came close to the icy continent
hidden by the fogs. Around 1820, the
ships of three countries arrived in the
same area within days of each other.
One was a British whaler; the second,
an American sealer; and the third, a
Russian exploratory expedition.
When the British whaler approached
the continent, a William Smith actually sighted its icy cliffs. Nathaniel
Palmer, captain of the American sealer,
saw the long, narrow peninsula which
now bears his name. Fabian von Bellingshausen, the commander of the Russian expedition, actually sailed all the
way around the continent, discovering
bays, off-shore islands, and mapping the
coastline on the way.
But no one knows which of the three
men saw Antarctica first.
Once Antarctica was on the map, explorers streamed
Did exploration
.
.
.
.
d'
t ? mto the Pacific
b egm 1mme 1a e 1y.
to find out what
they could about this new land.
In 1823, James Weddell, a British
navigator, sailed into the sea that now
bears his name and reached a . new

The Endurance, Shackleton's

ship, abandoned by her crew,
unable to withstand the pressure
of the ice, sinks slowly into the
frozen Weddell Sea.

farthest south. The French Government sent Dumont d'Urville in 1838,

and again in 1840. He named a stretch
of the Antarctic coastline after his wife,
Adelie. At about the same time, a group
from the United States headed by Lt.
Charles Wilkes, USN, reported land
and skirted the coast westward for 1500
miles. This was a tragic voyage that
suffered the illness of many men and the
desertion of many others. Wilkes was
first to establish existence of an Antarctic continent.
In 1841, the British sent Sir James
Clark Ross of Arctic fame. Ross spent
three years sailing the coastline and
mapping the shape of the continent. He
discovered the Ross Sea, the Ross Ice
Shelf, Victoria Land, and two mountains, Erebus and Terror. Mount Erebus turned out to be a smoking active
volcano in the midst of the ice!
Due to these explorations from several countries, Antarctica is today cut
up like a pie, with pieces claimed by
Norway, Great Britain, Australia,
F ranee, Chile, New Zealand, Argen-

tina, Russia, and the United States. The

varied nationality of Antarctica is reflected in its place names that stem from
many languages.
There was a veritable race to the Pole.
It had become
Who was the first to
a point of
reach the South Pole?
pride. Since
Peary of the United States had triumphed in the North, the British and
the Norwegian: hotly contested each
other in a competition for t~e South
Pole.
The British Royal Navy assigned Sir
Robert Falcon Scott to lead an expedition, and in 1902, he began his first
trek over the ice-covered land. After
fifty-nine days, when he was still about
400 nautical miles from the Pole, Scott
turned back, defeated.
One of the men with Scott on that
trip was rugged Sir Ernest Shackleton.
A determined explorer, he returned in
1909 with his own expedition. Advance
parties were sent out to set markers and
prepare food caches for the actual ex43

Scott's party finds Amundsen's tent and flag at the Pole (above right).
The map (above left) shows the routes Amundsen and Scott took for their "race" to the Pole.

ploratory team. The weather was cruel.

Blizzards swirled continuously and the
temperature dropped, but Shackleton
pushed on. He had to keep on schedule,
or there would not be enough food for
the return journey. Shackleton and his
men came within ninety-seven nautical
miles of the Pole, but they dared go no
farther. They raced back, dreading

44

s~arvation,

and just made it. The 1700mile march was an epic feat of endurance that taught men much about the
problems of Antarctic exploration.
So, the man who first reached the
Pole was that veteran of the Arctic,
Norwegian Roald Amundsen. He had
been planning to try for the North Pole
when news of Peary's triumph echoed

While Amundsen used teams of huskies to

sledge to the Pole, Scott started out with Siberian ponies which could not stand the cold and
died quickly. Pulling the sledges th'emselves for
the last 350 miles exhausted the energies of
Scott and his men.
The rescue party that found Scott's
body, photographs, and papers
erected the cairn and cross to mark
his grave in Antarctica.

around the world. Amundsen did not

hesitate. One Pole had been conquered,
but the other still beckoned.
Amundsen had planned his assault
very carefully, equipping himself with
sleds, skis and, most important, fiftytwo Eskimo Huskies. The dash to the
Pole began iri October, 1911. It went
smoothly. The dogs made the trip less
strenuous; the men could ride the sleds
or be pulled along on their skis. Day
after day, the expedition moved south
and, on December 14, 1911, Roald
Amundsen made some careful observations and calmly told his men that they

were standing at 90 degrees south the bottom of the world! From this
point, all directions led north. The
South Pole had finally been reached!
Robert Falcon Scott returned to AntWhat tragedies
arctica in Janfollowed the discovery u a ry, 19 11,
of the South Pole?
for a second
try at the Pole. He made lengthy preparations, but his men were beset by
sickness, and he had to delay the attempt several times. Then, he got a message from Amundsen announcing the
Norwegian attempt. Scott knew he
could wait no longer. The race was on!
45

Scott started for the Pole a few weeks

after Amundsen. Both base camps were
on the Ross Sea, but at opposite ends.
Scott could not move as quickly as .
Amundsen. He did not believe in the
value of sled dogs but depended on
Siberian ponies to pull his supplies the
first half of the way, and intended to use
manpower for the last half. Scott reasoned that the will power of men would
prevail; animals might quit under pressure. But Amundsen, with all his Arctic
experience, knew that the only way to
reach the Pole was with the Husky.
Scott's expedition was plagued by
bad luck from the very beginning. When
his supporting party returned to the
base camp in discouragement, he and
four companions pushed ahead doggedly. They plodded on, growing more
weary each day from the strain of pu,Uing their own sleds. Twenty miles from
the Pole, they found sled tracks and the
marks of dogs' paws in the snow. They
pushed excitedly ahead. A shocking
discovery awaited them in the ice Roald Amundsen's tent with the windtattered flag of Norway streaming over
it. Inside the tent, Scott found a note

from Amundsen asking that the finder

notify his king and make use of the tent,
any of the articles in it, and the sledge
outside. A dejected Scott decided to
turn back.
Scott kept a daily diary of this trip,
and its final chapters are tragic. The return march was like a nightmare. Food
supplies ran low, blizzards impeded
their progress, and sickness weakened
them. On February 17, one man died
and was buried in the snow. In the next
few weeks, the food all but ran out, and
a second man heroically walked out of
the tent to his death in the raging blizzard to leave enough food for the others.
By March 21st, the three remaining
meh could not move another step. They
remained in their tent, barely alive. The
final entry in Scott's diary was made on
March 29, 1912. Death must have followed soon after.
A search party sent out by the British
found the tent and the bodies of the
brave captain and his two men on November 12, 1912. The diary gave all the
sad details of the ill-fated expedition.
The discovery of the South Pole had
brought tragedy,' as well as triumph.
I

I
I

I
I

Today and Tomorrow

The discovery of the Poles did not
end Arctic and Antarctic exploration
and research. Men continued to penetrate both 'icy zones, some for the sake
of the challenge; others to collect scientific knowledge. Expeditions from many
countries went north and south, testing
new equipment and developing new
techniques.
46

Admiral Richard E. Byrd of the United

What were Admiral St a t es Navy
Byrd's contributions made seven Poto Polar research?
lar trips in his
long career, two to the North and five
to the South. In 1926, he and his pilot,
Floyd Bennett, took off from Spitsbergen, an Arctic island belonging to
Norway, flew to the North Pole, circled

it several times, and flew back without

incident. It was the first flight to the
North Pole, and in 1926, .the early days
of aviation, this was a great feat. More
important, it foreshadowed the day
man would be using all his ingenuity
and skills for Polar research.
Admiral Byrd turned his attention to
Antarctica in 1928. He established a
base camp named "Little America,"
brought his airplane, tons of supplies,
and settled there to live and work with
his crew for years. From the air, he
photographed and mapped thousands of
miles of terrain, and his teams of scientists gathered invaluable data about
the Antarctic area. Byrd's work in the
nineteen-thirties was the prelude to the
intense activity that began there after
World War II.

Immediately after World War II, many

?
nations estabWhat was the IGY.
. h d
h
11s e researc
projects in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. This activity culminated in the
International Geophysical Year, which
began in 1957. It transformed the
world's largest unexplored land mass

into a high-pressure laboratory. Twelve

nations set up bases in Antarctica alone.
During the IGY period, two exploits
made world headlines. A British expedition led by Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir
Edmund Hillary crossed Antarctica
completely, passing through the Pole
on the way. It took ninety-five days and
covered 2, 158 miles.
Of course, this team did not struggle
across Antarctica with dog sleds. They
used the latest means of Polar transportation, motorized vehicles with heated
cabs that ride on broad tractor treads
that equip them to cross ice crevasses
and climb slippery slopes. Even with
this modern equipment, there were
some dangerous incidents. But the
entire crossing has been hailed as a remarkable feat of modern exploration.
Far to the north - in fact, as far as
anyone can get - the American submarine, Nautilus, sailed under the ice
of the Arctic Ocean and, on August 3,
1958, passed under tpe Pole. A new
type of Polar passage, it foreshadows
the day when cargo submarines will fol- .
low a trade route at the top of the world.
On March 17, 1959, the submarine

On March 17, 1959, the Skate surfaced exactly at the North Pole.

....... .........
"' .........,,

.,
..;,.,,#'

irptei nes,
racrors, and (as our picture
shows) motor toboggans have replaced the
ota r ~xp !orations.
h wJw.erfJf.)nost.

Skate, far surpassed the Nautilus.

Working carefully under the Arctic
Ocean, she positioned herself exactly
at the North Pole. Then, she floated up,
broke through the ice, and became the
first ship to reach the Pole. In so doing,
the Skate and her crew fulfilled the
dream of Fridjtof Nansen - to arrive
at the Pole by ship.

Research is going on in both Polar

Regions. PerWhat is happening
manent estabat the Poles now?

lishmen ts are
now the rule, with scientists coming and
going regularly. Antarctica now boasts
an atomic power station; helicopters
soar above the icy wastes; and all kinds
of powered equipment carries men
across the snow.
We are learning a great deal. We
now know much more about the magnetic field of our planet and the nature
of the cosmic rays which arrive in its atmosphere from the far distant galaxies.
48

The glittering Auroras are being studied intensively. Weather plotting is becoming more exact. With a look to the
future, especially space exploration, Soviet scientists on the Pamirs Plateau in
Siberia, where the air is constantly cold
and rarified, are studying plant and animal life. These conditions match closely
what is presumed to be the "Martian
environment."
American scientists at both Poles are
accumulating a wealth of data about
our planet and its relation to the other
bodies of the solar system. All the countries involved are exploring busily the
possibilities of extracting the mineral
resources of Antarctica. We are also
gathering information that may lead
some day to man's endurance of a new
ice age.
While the satellites move mysteriously through the dark enigma of space,
the secrets of the once remote and forbidding ends of earth are steadily being
exposed to the light of science.

HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOKS

Produced and approved by noted authorities, these books
answer the questions most often asked about science, nature and history. They are presented in a clear, readable
style, and contain many colorful and instructive illustrations. Readers will want to explore each of these
fascinating subjects and collect these volumes as an
authentic, ready-reference, basic library.

,'

5001
5002
5003
5004
5005
5006
5007
5008
5009
5010
5011
5012
5013
5014
5015
5016
5017
5018
5019
5020
5021
5022
5023
5024
5025
5026
5027
5028
5029
5030
5031

DINOSAURS
5032
WEATHER
5033
ELECTRICITY
5034
ROCKS AND MINERALS
./ 5035
r ~'36
ROCKETS AND MISSILES
STARS
5037
5038
INSECTS
1
REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 5039
BIRDS
5040
OUR EARTH
/ 5041
BEGINNING SCIENCE
5042
MACHINES
THE HUMAN BODY
5043
SEA SHELLS
5044
ATOMIC ENERGY
5045
THE MICROSCOPE
5046
THE CIVIL WAR
5047
MATHEMATICS
5048
FLIGHT
5049
BALLET
5050
CHEMISTRY
5051
HORSES
5052
EXPLORATIONS AND
DISCOVERIES
5053
PRIMITIVE MAN
5054
NORTH AMERICA
5055
PLANETS AND
5056
INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL
WILD ANIMALS
5057
5058
SOUND
5059
LOST CITIES
5060
ANTS AND BEES
5061
WILD FLOWERS

DOGS
PREHISTORIC MAMMALS
SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS
WORLD WAR II
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS
FISH
ROBOTS AND
ELECTRONIC BRAINS
LIGHT AND COLOR
WINNING OF THE WEST
THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION
CAVES TO SKYSCRAPERS
SHIPS
TIME
MAGNETS AND MAGNETISM
GUNS
THE MOON
FAMOUS SCIENTISTS
OLD TESTAMENT
BUILDING
RAILROADS
TREES
OCEANOGRAPHY
NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
MUSHROOMS, FERNS AND
MOSSES
THE POLAR REGIONS
COINS AND CURRENCY
BASIC INVENTIONS
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
ELECTRONICS

WONDER BOOKS
New York 10, N. Y.