| Summary: | The British Commonwealth-sponsored Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) of 1957–58, under the leadership of Dr Vivian Fuchs, completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. A pioneering and hazardous journey, and not without controversial elements, it also included scientists participating in International Geophysical Year research. Jon Stephenson was a geologist on that expedition. As well as giving his account of the Expedition, its planning and its aftermath, Stephenson supplies a history of Antarctic exploration since James Cook’s voyage of 1775, an account of other Antarctic exploration and scientific study contemporaneous with TAE, and an overview of subsequent expeditions. A notable feature of the book are the author’s remarkable photographs, which were exhibited in Sydney in September 2007 in a 50th anniversary commemoration of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition and the International Geophysical year. Crevasse Roulette includes a Foreword from another pioneer of Antarctic scientific activity, Dr Phillip Law. Dr Jon Stephenson taught geology for many years at the James Cook University, Townsville, where he is now an Honorary Research Associate.
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