The Polar World
A Popular Description of Man and Nature in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions of the Globe

This 1869 book describes the geography and climate, as well as the survival strategies for life, in extreme polar environments.

Georg Hartwig (Author)

9781108073363, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 May 2014

592 pages, 85 b/w illus. 8 colour illus. 3 maps
21.5 x 14 x 3.5 cm, 0.65 kg

The German scientific writer Georg Hartwig (1813–80) produced many popular works on geographical and natural history topics, among them this book, published in English in 1869. (An American version, with additional chapters, came out in the same year.) Unusually for the period, it surveyed exploration in the Antarctic as well as the Arctic, though the coverage of the latter makes up the bulk of the book. Hartwig's intention is 'to convey solid instruction under an entertaining form', combining the history of exploration with descriptions of the polar regions explored by the mid-century, including Siberia as well as the islands and ice packs of the Arctic Ocean. In this very readable work, Hartwig describes geography, geology and climate, as well as the survival strategies of plant, animal and human life in an extreme environment, using a very wide range of earlier published material to create an integrated narrative.

Preface
Part I. The Arctic Regions: 1. The Arctic lands
2. Arctic land quadrupeds and birds
3. The Arctic seas
4. Arctic marine animals
5. Iceland
6. History of Iceland
7. The Icelanders
8. The Westman Islands
9. From Drontheim to the North Cape
10. Spitzbergen, Bear Island, Jan Meyen
11. Novaya Zemlya
12. The Lapps
13. Matthias Alexander Castren
14. The Samojedes
15. The Ostjaks
16. Conquest of Siberia by the Russians
17. Siberia, fur trade and gold diggings
18. Middendorff's adventures in Taimurland
19. The Jakuts
20. Wrangel
21. The Tungusi
22. George William Steller
23. Kamtschatka
24. The Tchutchi
25. Behring Sea, the Russian fur company, the Aleuts
26. The Esquimaux
27. The fur trade of the Hudson's Bay territories
28. The Cree Indians
29. The Tinne Indians
30. The Loucheux, or Kutchin Indians
31. Arctic voyages of discovery from the Cabots to Baffin
32. Arctic voyages of discovery from Baffin to M'Clintock
33. Kane and Hayes
34. Newfoundland
35. Greenland
Part II. The Antarctic Regions: 36. The Antarctic Ocean
37. Antarctic voyages of discovery
38. The Strait of Magellan
39. Patagonia and the Patagonians
40. The Fuegians
Index.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]