High Places: Cultural Geographies of Mountains, Ice and Science (International Library of Human Geography)

Annotation High places--be they mountain peaks or the vast expanses of the polar latitudes--have always captured the human imagination. Inaccessible, extreme, they are commonly invested with awe and reverence, as places of physical challenge, intense experience. Increasingly, they are also treated as unique locations for science. High Places explores the fascinating geographies of these special environments, revealing how senses are challenged, objectivities exposed, cultural assumptions laid bare. Whether walking the summit of Pico de Orizaba, the fourth highest volcano in the northern hemisphere; recounting the tale of the American explorer Charles Wilkes, charged with "immoral mapping" in Antarctica; or exploring the 200,000 year old Greenland ice core; the international contributors reveal the richness and significance of these unique locations. Embracing Europe, Asia, North and Central America, Antarctica and the Arctic, High Places will interest geographers, historians of science, and those interested in polar/mountain studies, landscape, culture and environment Contents......Page 6 Illustrations......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Contributors......Page 14 1. Introduction: High Places - Denis Cosgrove and Veronica della Dora......Page 16 Part 1: Science and Formal Knowledge in High Places......Page 32 2. Walking in Circles: Cognition and Science in High Places - William L. Fox......Page 34 3. The Ends of the Earth: Narrating Scott, Amundsen and Antarctica - John Wylie......Page 48 4. Climates of Sight: Mistaken Visibilities, Mirages and 'Seeing Beyond' in Antarctica - Kathryn Yusoff......Page 63 5. Core Matter: Greenland, Denver and the GISP2 Ice Core - Heather Frazar......Page 79 6. Mountains: Between Pure Reason and Embodied Experience: Philippe Buache and Alexander von Humboldt - Bernard Debarbieux......Page 102 7. Domesticating High Places: Mount Athos: Botanical 'Garden of the Virgin' - Veronica dell Dora......Page 120 8. Astronomers at Altitude: Mountain Geography and the Cultivation of Scientific Legitimacy - K. Maria D. Lane......Page 141 Part 2: Local Knowledge and Science in High Places......Page 160 9. Stewards of the Mountains: The Poetics and Politics of Local Knowledge in the Valaisan Alps - Gilles Rudaz......Page 162 10. Sea Ice Mapping: Ontology, Mechanics and Human Rights at the Ice Floe Edge - Michael T. Bravo......Page 177 11. Canada Day in Resolute: Performance, Ritual, and the Nation in an Inuit Community - Richard C. Powell......Page 193 12. Paektudaegan: Science and Colonialism, Memory and Mapping in Korean High Place - Jong-Heon Jin......Page 211 13. Afterword: 'The Unhandselled Globe' - J. Nicholas Entrikin......Page 231 Endnotes......Page 242 Index......Page 276 "High mountains, polar expanses, volcanic peaks are exciting and special environments. 13 leading international geographers explore different aspects of these environments - disorientation, exploration, native knowledge, polar research. This is the first book to do this.High places - be they mountain peaks or the vast expanses of the polar latitudes - have always captured the human imagination. Inaccessible, extreme, they are commonly invested with awe and reverence, as places of physical challenge, intense experience. Increasingly, they are also treated as unique locations for science."High Places" explores the fascinating geographies of these special environments, revealing how senses are challenged, objectivities exposed, cultural assumptions laid bare. Whether walking the summit of Pico de Orizaba, the fourth highest volcano in the northern hemisphere; recounting the tale of the American explorer Charles Wilkes, charged with 'immoral mapping' in Antarctica; or exploring the 200,000 year old Greenland ice core; the international contributors reveal the richness and significance of these unique locations. Embracing Europe, Asia, North and Central America, Antarctica and the Arctic, "High Places" will interest geographers, historians of science, and those interested in polar/mountain studies, landscape, culture and environment."--Bloomsbury Publishing. High places - be they mountain peaks or the vast expanses of the polar latitudes - have always captured the human imagination. Inaccessible, extreme, these sublime landscapes of rock and ice are commonly invested with awe and reverence, as places of physical challenge, intense experience, danger and death. Increasingly today, they are also treated as uniquely precious locations for science and as barometers of environmental vulnerability. High Places is an exploration of the complex and fascinating geographies of these special environments High mountains, polar expanses, volcanic peaks are exciting and special environments. This book explores different aspects of these environments - disorientation, exploration, native knowledge, polar research. It is suitable for geographers, historians of science, and those interested in polar/mountain studies, landscape, culture and environment. Edited By Denis Cosgrove And Veronica Della Dora. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.