Showing titles in Expeditions & Discoveries

In 1955, a young TV producer named David Attenborough was approached by six graduates determined to drive the entire length of Eurasia from London to Singapore. It was the "unclimbed Everest of motoring"—many had tried, none had succeeded. The 19,000-mile journey captivated a nation. Fifty years later, Attenborough said he didn't think the journey could be made again today. Inspired and desperate to prove Attenborough wrong, Alex Bescoby contacted Tim Slessor and together they planned to recreate the trip, this time from Singapore to London.

The Dutch East India Company, officially the United East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie; VOC), was a megacorporation created in the early 17th century by a government-directed merger of many competing Dutch trade services. You might think that Amazon or Google is big, but the VOC is still thought to be the world's biggest corporation in documented history.

On Christmas Eve 2013, off the coast of East Antarctica, an abrupt weather change trapped the Shokalskiy - the ship carrying earth scientist Chris Turney and 71 others involved in the Australasian Antarctic Expedition - in a densely packed armada of sea ice, 1400 miles from civilization. With the ship's hull breached and steerage lost, the wind threatened to drive the vessel into the frozen continent, smashing it to pieces.

In 1865 a broken Admiral Robert FitzRoy locked himself in his dressing room and cut his throat. His grand meteorological project had failed. Yet only a decade later, FitzRoy’s storm-warning system and ‘forecasts’ would return, the model for what we use today. In an age when a storm at sea was evidence of God’s great wrath, 19th-century meteorologists had to fight against convention and religious dogma.

Discover the inspiring story of how a nurse became the first international medical expedition in history. In a world where science was very much practiced solely by men, Isabel Zendal's tale brings out her contribution toward a great philanthropic cause - one of many women who contributed to the advancement of medicine in the world. But it's not just her story: Through Isabel, you're about to discover the history of smallpox and how one expedition brought mercy to those who suffered from it.

From ambitious scientists rising above the clouds to analyse the air to war generals floating across enemy lines, Richard Holmes takes to the air in this heart-lifting history of pioneer balloonists. Falling Upwards asks why they risked their lives, and how their flights revealed the secrets of our planet. The stories range from early ballooning rivals to the long-distance voyages of American entrepreneurs; from the legendary balloon escape from the Prussian siege of Paris to dauntless James Glaisher, who in the 1860s flew seven miles above the earth - without oxygen.

What is a royal family?

Originariamente publicadas como folletín, en 1870, en el diario La Tribuna, las cartas que componen este libro son el particular relato de la expedición de Lucio V. Mansilla Tierra Adentro y de su encuentro con los indios ranqueles. Con una minuciosidad por momentos cercana a la obsesión, en ellas el autor toma nota de los detalles de la geografía pampeana y describe lúcidamente los hábitos, costumbres y comportamientos del mundo indígena, ese gran Otro de la literatura argentina.

What do you do when someone tells you, “It can’t be done”? Here is the extraordinary story of three people - an explorer, an engineer, and a statesman - who repeatedly proved critics and naysayers wrong. Roald Amundsen - the Norwegian explorer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel - the greatest engineer the world has ever seen, and Teddy Roosevelt - the cowboy turned statesman. Audacious Goals, Remarkable Results reveals the outsized risks and setbacks each faced in their quest to change the world.

Einstein’s Fridge tells the story of how scientists uncovered the least known and yet most consequential of all the sciences and learned to harness the power of heat and ice. The laws of thermodynamics govern everything from the behaviour of atoms to that of living cells, from the engines that power our world to the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. Not only that, but thermodynamics explains why we must eat and breathe, how the lights come on and ultimately how the universe will end.

In a male-driven world, Bell managed to become one of the greatest policymakers the world has ever known; without her, the Middle East might very well be a much different place, and her influence in the territory gave her the nickname "Queen of the Desert". This biography tells the extraordinary story of one of the most adventurous and fascinating women you will ever encounter.

In 1957 the Soviet Union sent Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into space. America took up the challenge to explore the next frontier. A dozen years, and 25 billion dollars later, the mission of Apollo 11 would yield man's finest hour. For that was the first time man's foot left prints on another heavenly body. And that was only the beginning. Apollo 11 is the incredible story of how a nation forged the technology during the turbulent 1960s to slip humanity from the bonds of its native planet. This inside look remembers those who made the great enterprise succeed.

In 1856 Paul Du Chaillu marched into the equatorial wilderness of West Africa determined to bag an animal that, according to legend, was nothing short of a monster. When he emerged three years later, the summation of his efforts only hinted at what he'd experienced in one of the most dangerous regions on earth. Armed with an astonishing collection of zoological specimens, Du Chaillu leapt from the physical challenges of the jungle straight into the center of the biggest issues of the time.

When it was discovered in 1922, in an Egypt newly independent of the British Empire, the 3,300-year-old tomb of Tutankhamun sent shockwaves around the world. The boy-king became a household name overnight and kick-started an international obsession that continues to this day. From pop culture and politics to tourism and the heritage industry, it’s impossible to imagine the past century without the discovery of Tutankhamun – yet so much of the story remains untold.

In 1862, ambitious scientist James Glaisher set out to do the impossible: ascend higher into the skies than ever before to establish his groundbreaking research. Glaisher’s death-defying journey forms the story of the major motion picture The Aeronauts, starring Eddie Redmayne as Glaisher and Felicity Jones as his balloon companion, Amelia Wren. Written in his own words, The Aeronauts chronicles Glaisher’s incredible flights and discoveries first hand, as well as his observations on the pioneers who came before and inspired him.

El Diario de navegación es el primer documento en español escrito en América y en él se usan por primera vez varios americanismos que luego formaron parte del vocabulario usual de este idioma. Esta versión cuenta con una introducción histórica del Mgtr. Javier Martínez, licenciado en letras con posgrado en lingüística, así como antropólogo con maestría en comunicación para el desarrollo. La intervención del Mgtr. Martínez facilita la comprensión del lector y expone el contexto socio-histórico del Diario de navegación.

Almost unknown by most tourists, Terceira is the most beautiful island in the North Atlantic. It is one of the nine islands that make up what we know as the Azores. As an autonomous region of Portugal, Terceira Island, along with the other islands are truly the "Hawaii of the Atlantic." In this book, you will discover the vast history of Terceira from its megalithic monuments to its importance in the discovery of the Americas. Its history played a strategic role from the 1400s to the present day, when it was the crucial stopover and mooring for both the Portuguese and Spanish fleet. Later ...

Until the early 1870s, very little was known about the creatures lurking in the depths of our oceans. The first systematic investigation into life in our oceans was made during the circumnavigation of the HMS Challenger. Scientists credit this voyage as the beginning of modern oceanography. In this book, Graham Bell takes listeners through the voyage station by station, following the progress of the expedition and introducing some of the new and strange animals that were hauled up from the depths of the ocean and seen by human eyes for the first time.

Si les Vikings ont abordé le continent américain bien avant lui, c'est indéniablement Christophe Colomb qui a ouvert à l'ouest la route d'un "Nouveau Monde". Pourquoi a-t-on utilisé, pour baptiser cette partie du monde, le prénom d'Amerigo Vespucci ? Alors même qu'il s'installe en Amérique, Stefan Zweig reconstitue l'enchevêtrement des circonstances, des hasards, des malentendus qui sont à l'origine de cette étrange erreur.

The iconic ridge of the Black Cuillin on the Isle of Skye is the UK’s most challenging mountain range. Over 11 kilometres long and above 3,000 feet in places, the ridge contains 11 Munros and 16 other summits. In The Black Ridge, Simon Ingram offers a powerful distillation of the atmosphere, history and experience of the ridge: Britain’s ultimate mountain range.