Review of Scott’s last biscuit: the literature of polar exploration, by Sarah Moss

• Published in: Polar Research
• Main Author: Capelotti, P. J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2007
• Subjects: Polar Research
• Online Access: https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2028; https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v26i2.6214

Fifty years ago, George Bass revolutionized maritime archaeology with the observation that it was far simpler to train an archaeologist to be a scuba diver than it was to turn a scuba diver into an underwater archaeologist. One is tempted to make a similar observation about literary theorists writing polar history while reading this interesting volume. It is not that scuba divers cannot perform underwater archaeology; it is just that one set of skills cannot be learned nearly as quickly as the other.