February at Awa Press

February at Awa Press This month we are excited to be welcoming our new landmark title — Dispatches from Continent Seven: An anthology of Antarctic science by award-winning science writer and Listener columnist Rebecca Priestley Best-selling author Marcus Chown has given this book a golden advance review: "In this lovingly assembled collage of a century plus of heroic Antarctic science, Rebecca Priestley opens a glorious window on the unimaginable whiteness of Earth's final frontier. This is a wonderful, sumptuous book which reminds us what an utterly extraordinary planet we find ourselves on and how precarious is our continued existence on it." Rebecca Priestley’s enthralling collection of writings by Antarctic explorers and scientists starts with Captain James Cook in 1773 on sailing inside the Antarctic Circle, and ends with research biologist Kathryn Smith on the ten-year invasion of predatory king crabs on to the Antarctic sea floor – a warning sign, like so much else in Antarctica, that global warming is a threat to the finely balanced ecosystems that sustain life on Earth. In between we learn of the numerous important and intriguing scientific discoveries that have been made here over 200 years – from sexually depraved penguins and hermaphrodite sea butterflies to fish full of anti-freeze, melting ice caps, expanding sea ice and a mysterious plethora of meteorites. A model developed by geologist Nick Golledge has shown that if global warming can be kept below 2°C we may still have a chance of stopping the Antarctic ice sheets from collapsing with almost unimaginable consequences. In Priestley’s words, ‘That’s a goal we can all play a part in achieving.’   Dispatches from Continent Seven at Writers Week 2016 ICE SCIENCE REBECCA PRIESTLEY, TIM NAISH, RHIAN SALMON, TE RADAR  Hear Antarcticans Rebecca Priestley, Tim Naish and Rhian Salmon from Victoria University of Wellington’s Faculty of Science talk about their experiences and read passages from Dispatches from Continent Seven, a new anthology illuminating more than 200 years of science and discovery on the frozen continent. Te Radar will chair a discussion of what drives scientists to work, and sometimes risk their lives, in this most inhospitable of environments. LAUNCH PARTY Awa Press and Victoria University of Wellington warmly invite you to the launch of Dispatches from Continent Seven at Black Sparrow Bar, Embassy Theatre.   Follow the links below: Ice Science - Embassy Theatre, Saturday 12 March 5pm Launch Party - Black Sparrow Bar, Saturday 12 March 6.15pm