Science in the snow. Sixty years of international collaboration through the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. David W. H. Walton, Peter D. Clarkson and Colin P. Summerhayes. 2018. Cambridge: Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research with Victoria Press. xi + 321 p, illustrated, paperback, ISBN 978-0-948277-55-9 (limited edition) (e-Book ISBN 978-0-948277-56-6).

Abstract

This richly illustrated book gives an account of the evolution of SCAR from the time of its birth in 1958 in the wake of the International Geophysical Year (IGY 1957–58) up to and including its 60th birthday. It is the second (now expanded) edition of a book previously issued in connection with the organisation’s 50th birthday. The primary focus is on the inner life of SCAR, its structure, and its purpose in bringing together members of national scientific communities to plan, coordinate and collaborate through Antarctic research programmes. The reader is provided with detailed descriptions of the science done and how research agendas, themes, as well as priorities have changed over time, plus how results were and are disseminated. Apart from being a mine of information that will interest many scientists and amongst some of these trigger memories of times past, the present volume is an invaluable sourcebook for historians and social scientists concerned with analysing changing trends in Antarctic research. With its fount of facts and data it may also serve as a point of departure for oral history projects.