Where to Learn More!
Episodes #90 - 94: Alexander von Humboldt - German Explorer of Latin America
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Years 1799-1804 by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland. Translated and Edited by Thomasina Ross.
Essay on the Geography of Plants by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland. Edited with an Introduction by Stephen T. Jackson and Translated by Sylvie Romanowski. The University of Chicago Press. 2009.
Political Essay on the Island of Cuba: A Critical Edition by Alexander von Humboldt. University of Chicago Press. 2011.
Cosmos: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe by Alexander von Humboldt. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1997.
Humboldt’s Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Latin American Journey That Changed the Way We See the World by Gerard Helferich. Gotham Books. 2004.
Nature’s Interpreter: The Life and Times of Alexander von Humboldt by Donald McCory. The Lutterworth Press. 2010.
Alexander von Humboldt by L. Kellner. Oxford University Press. 1963.
The Life of Alexander von Humboldt by Alfred Dove, Julius Löwenberg, and Robert Avé-Lallemant. 1873.
The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Shaping of America by Laura Dassow Walls. University of Chicago Press. 2009.
Episodes #87 - 89: Alessandro Volta - Italian Explorer of Electricity
Volta: Science and Culture in the Age of Enlightenment by Giuliano Pancaldi. Princeton University Press. 2003.
Alessandro Volta and the Electric Battery by Bern Dibner. Franklin Watts. 1964.
The Ambiguous Frog: The Galvani-Volta Controversy on Animal Electricity by Marcello Pera. Translated by Jonathan Mandelbaum. Princeton University Press. 1992.
A History of Electricity and Magnetism by Herbert W. Meyer. Burndy Library. 1972.
When Physics Became King by Iwan Rhys Morus. University of Chicago Press. 2005.
Hidden Attraction: The History and Mystery of Magnetism by Gerrit L. Verschuur. Oxford University Press. 1993.
Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment by Michael Brian Schiffer. University of California Press. 2003.
The History of Physics, Revised Edition by Isaac Asimov. Walker Publishing Company. 1984.
Biography of Physics by George Gamow. Literary Licensing, LLC. 2011 (originally published in 1961)
Elegance in Science: The Beauty of Simplicity by Ian Glynn. Oxford University Press. 2010.
Pursuing Power and Light: Technology and Physics from James Watt to Albert Einstein by Bruce J. Hunt. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2010.
The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of Its Greatest Inventors by John Gribbin. Random House. 2003.
Electricity in the 17th and 18th Centuries: A Story of Early Modern Physics by J.L. Heilbron. Dover Publications. 1999. (originally published in 1979)
Episodes #85 - 86: Matilda Coxe Stevenson - American Explorer of Zuni Culture
Matilda Coxe Stevenson: Pioneering Anthropologist by Darlis A. Miller. University of Oklahoma Press. 2007.
Hidden Scholars: Women Anthropologists and the Native American Southwest edited by Nancy J. Parezo. University of New Mexico Press. 1993.
Zuni Origins: Toward a New Synthesis of Southwestern Archaeology edited by David A. Gregory and David R. Wilcox. University of Arizona Press. 2007.
Pueblo Nations: Eight Centuries of Pueblo Indian History by Joe. S. Sando. Clear Light Publishers. 1998.
Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest, 2nd Edition by Stephen Plog. Thames & Hudson. 2008.
Ancient Puebloan Southwest by John Kantner. Cambridge University Press. 2004.
Atlas of the North American Indian, 3rd Edition by Carl Waldman. Checkmark Books. 2009.
An Introduction to Native America, 3rd Edition by Mark Q. Sutton. Pearson Education, Inc. 2008.
A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples by Barry M. Pritzker. Oxford University Press. 2000.
Daughters of the Desert: Women Anthropologists and the Native American Southwest, 1880-1980 by Barbara A. Babcock and Nancy J. Parezo. University of New Mexico Press. 1988.
Episodes #81 - 84: Charlie Duke - American Explorer of the Moon
Moonwalker by Charlie and Dottie Duke. Oliver Nelson. 1990.
Forever Young: A Life of Adventure in Air and Space by John W. Young with James R. Hansen. University Press of Florida. 2012.
Apollo 16: The NASA Mission Reports edited by Robert Godwin. Volume One. Apogee Books. 2002.
Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of NASA’s Apollo Lunar Expeditions by William David Compton. Dover Publications. 2010.
Lunar and Planetary Rovers: The Wheels of Apollo and the Quest for Mars by Anthony Young. Springer-Praxis. 2007.
Lunar Rover: 1971-1972 (Apollo 15-17; LRV1-3 & 1G Trainer): Owners’s Workshop Manual by Christopher Riley, David Woods, and Philip Dolling. Haynes Publishing. 2012.
Apollo: The Definitive Sourcebook by Richard W. Orloff and David M. Harland. Springer-Praxis. 2006.
Episodes #79 - 80: Violet Cressy-Marcks - English Explorer of the Amazon & Andes
Up the Amazon and Over the Andes: Travel and Adventures of an English Woman in Latin America by Violet Cressy-Marcks. Totramundas Press. 2007. (originally published in 1932)
Complex Locations: Women’s Geographical Work in the UK 1850-1970 by Avril Maddrell. Wiley-Blackwell. 2009.
Episodes #76 - 78: Joshua Slocum - British-American Sailor of the Seas
The Voyages of Joshua Slocum by Joshua Slocum (edited and with commentaries by Walter Magnes Teller). Sheridan House. 1995. (originally published in 1958)
The Annotated Sailing Alone Around the World by Captain Joshua Slocum. Annotated by Rod Scher. Sheridan House. 2009.
Capt. Joshua Slocum: The Life and Voyages of America's Best Known Sailor by Victor Slocum. Sheridan House. 1950.
The Search for Captain Slocum: A Biography by Walter Magnes Teller. Charles Scribner's Sons, Inc. 1956.
The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum by Geoffrey Wolff. Alfred A. Knopf. 2010
Alone at Sea: The Adventures of Joshua Slocum by Ann Spencer. Doubleday Canada. 1998.
Episodes #74 - 75: Elizabeth Blackburn - Australian-American Explorer of Telomeres
Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres by Catherine Brady. MIT Press. 2009
"Telomeres: All's Well That Ends Well" by Michael Eisenstein. Nature 478: S13-S15. October 13, 2011.
"How Telomeres Solve the End-Protection Problem" by Titia de Lange. Science 326: 948-952. November 13, 2009.
Episodes #69 - 73: Francis Garnier - French Explorer of the Mekong
Travels in Cambodia and Part of Laos: The Mekong Exploration Commission Report (1866-1868) - Volume 1 by Francis Garnier. Translated and with an introduction by Walter E.J. Tips. White Lotus Press. 1996. -- Note: this volume also contains Louis Delaporte's written account of the expedition during Francis Garnier's illness at Khone Falls, Cambodia.
Further Travels in Laos and in Yunnan: The Mekong Exploration Commission Report (1866-1868) - Volume 2 by Francis Garnier. Translated and with an introduction by Walter E.J. Tips. White Lotus Press. 1996.
A Pictorial Journey on the Old Mekong: Cambodia, Laos, and Yunnan: The Mekong Exploration Commission Report (1866-1868) - Volume 3 by Louis Delaporte and Francis Garnier. White Lotus Press. 1998.
Agriculture and Ethnobotany of the Mekong Basin: The Mekong Exploration Commission Report (1866-1868) - Volume 4 by Clovis Thorel. Translated by Walter E.J. Tips. White Lotus Press. 2001.
Mad About the Mekong: Exploration and Empire in South-East Asia by John Keay. Harper Collins Publishers. 2005.
River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong, 1866-73 by Milton Osborne. Atlantic Monthly Press. 1996.
The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future by Milton Osborne. Grove Press. 2000.
Explorers of South-East Asia: Six Lives by Victor T. King (editor). Oxford University Press. 1995.
A History of Cambodia, Fourth Edition by David Chandler. Westview Press. 2008.
A History of Laos by Martin Stuart-Fox. Cambridge University Press. 1997.
Southeast Asia: An Introductory History. Tenth Edition by Milton Osborne. Allen & Unwin. 2010.
Angkor and the Khmer Civilization by Michael D. Coe. Thames & Hudson. 2005.
A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People by Zhou Daguan. Translated with an introduction and Notes by Peter Harris. Forward by David Chandler. Silkworm Books. 2007. (Originally published around 1297 AD)
Episodes #66 - 68: Alexandra David-Néel - French Explorer of Tibet
Magic and Mystery in Tibet by Alexandra David-Néel. Claude Kendall Publishers. 1932.
My Journey to Lhasa by Alexandra David-Néel. Harper Brothers. 1927.
The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Néel: A Biography of the Explorer of Tibet and Its Forbidden Practices by Barbara Foster and Michael Foster. The Overlook Press. 1998.
Alexandra David-Néel: Portrait of an Adventurer by Ruth Middleton. Shambhala Publications. 1989.
Alexandra David-Néel: Explorer at the Roof of the World by Earle Rice, Jr. Chelsea House Publishers. 2004.
A Cultural History of Tibet by David L. Snellgrove and Hugh Richardson. Orchid Press. 2003.
Episodes #62 - 65: Fridtjof Nansen - Norwegian Explorer of Greenland and the Arctic
The First Crossing of Greenland by Fridtjof Nansen (in two volumes). Longmans, Green, and Company. 1890.
Farthest North: The Exploration of the Fram, 1893-1896 by Fridtjof Nansen. 1897.
Nansen by Roland Huntford. Gerald Duckworth & Company. 1997.
Across the Polar Region: A Lecture by Dr. F. Nansen Describing His Voyage in the Fram During the Years 1893-1896 by Fridtjof Nansen. British Library. 1897.
Fridtjof Nansen - The Great Arctic Explorer - A Selection of Classic Articles on the Life and Expeditions of Nansen by Various Authors. Read Books Ltd. 2011.
Life and Explorations of Fridtjof Nansen by James Arthur Bain. Walter Scott, Ltd. 1897.
Nansen by E.E. Reynolds. Penguin Books. 1949 (first published in 1932).
The North Pole: A Narrative History edited by Anthony Brandt. National Geographic Adventure Classics. 2005.
Through Siberia - The Land of the Future by Fridtjof Nansen. 1914.
Episodes #58 - 61: Charles Houston - American Explorer of K2
Five Miles High: The Thrilling True Story of the First American Expedition to K2 by Robert H. Bates and Charles S. Houston. Dodd, Mead and Company. 1939. -- This is the official chronicle of Houston's 1938 K2 Expedition.
K2: The Savage Mountain by Charles S. Houston, M.D., and Robert Bates. The Lyons Press. 2009 (originally published in 1954). -- This is the official chronicle of Houston's 1953 K2 Expedition.
Brotherhood of the Rope: The Biography of Charles Houston by Bernadette McDonald. The Mountaineer Books. 2007. -- This is the definitive biography of Charles Houston; If you can find it, watch the DVD that originally came with this book - it is GREAT!!!!
Charlie Houston's 1987 Article: Death in High Places" by Charles S. Houston. American Alpine Journal. 1987. -- Provides an overview of high altitude sickness; Charlie also makes some comments about the 1986 K2 Tragedy.
K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain by Jim Curran. The Mountaineers Books. 1995. -- Provides a historical overview of K2, including major expeditions to the mountain.
K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain by Ed Viesturs, with David Roberts. Broadway Books. 2009. -- Provides a historical overview of six seasons in the climbing of K2 (1938, 1939, 1953, 1954, 1986, and 2008), as well as an account of Viesturs' own 1992 ascent. As with all of Ed Viesturs' books, this is a GREAT book; highly recommended!
The Challenge of K2: A History of the Savage Mountain by Richard Sale. Pen & Sword. 2011.
Going Higher: Oxygen, Man, and Mountains, Fifth Edition by Charles S. Houston, M.D., David E. Harris, Ph.D., and Ellen J. Zeman, Ph.D. Mountaineers Books. 2005. -- Provides a complete historical overview of high altitude medicine, all the way back to the ancient Greeks.
Tigers of the Snow: How One Fateful Climb Made the Sherpas Mountaineering Legends by Jonathan Neale. Thomas Dunne Books. 2002. -- Contains a lot of information on Pasang Kikuli, as well as many other great Sherpa climbers of the Himalaya and Karakoram.
K2: Challenging the Sky by Roberto Mantovani and Kurt Diemberger. Smithmark Publishers. 1995.
K2: Mountain of Mountains by Reinhold Messner and A. Gogna. Oxford University Press. 1981. -- Messner's account of his 1979 summit of K2.
K2: The 1939 Tragedy by Andrew J. Kauffman and William L. Putnam. The Mountaineers Books. 1992 -- Attempts to explain what happened during the tragic 1939 K2 Expedition, though the authors seem to unfairly place much of the blame on expedition leader Fritz Wiessner.
The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of An American Adventurer on K2 by Jennifer Jordan. W.W. Norton & Company. 2010. -- Attempts to explain what happened during the tragic 1939 K2 Expedition.
The Mountains of My Life by Walter Bonatti. Modern Classics. 2001 (originally published in French in 1998). -- Autobiography of Walter Bonatti, one of the great French mountaineers of the 20th century. Bonatti was a member of the 1954 French K2 Expedition. If you read only one book about the 1954 K2 Expedition, I recommend this one.
K2: The Price of Conquest by Lino Lacedelli and Giovanni Cenacchi. The Mountaineers Books. 2006. -- Provides an account of the highly controversial 1954 French K2 Expedition, which resulted in the first summit of K2.
In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods by Galen Rowell. Sierra Club Books. 1977. -- An account of the 1975 American K2 Expedition.
The Last Step: The American Ascent of K2 by Rick Ridgeway. The Mountaineers. 1980. -- A chronicle of the 1978 American ascent of K2.
K2: Triumph and Tragedy by Jim Curran. Mariner Books. 1987. -- Provides an account of the 1986 K2 Tragedy.
No Way Down: Life and Death on K2 by Graham Bowley. HarperCollins. 2010. -- Provides an account of the 2008 K2 Tragedy.
Episode #57: Fan Jinshi - Chinese Explorer of the Dunhuang Caves
The Caves of Dunhuang by Fan Jinshi. The Dunhuang Academy/London Editions. 2010.
The Art of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang: A Journey Into China's Buddhist Shrine by Fan Jinshi and Zhao Shengliang. Homa & Sekey Books. 2009.
Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes by Zhang Yanmei. Better Link Press. 2008.
Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History On the Silk Road by Roderick Whitfield, Susan Whitfield, and Neville Agnew. J. Paul Getty Trust. 2000.
Episode #56: Katherine Routledge - English Explorer of Easter Island
The Mystery of Easter Island: The Story of an Expedition by Katherine Routledge. 1919.
Among Stone Giants: The Life of Katherine Routledge and Her Remarkable Expedition to Easter Island by Jo Anne Van Tilburg. Scribner. 2003.
Easter Island: The Essential Guide by Kay Kenady Sanger. The Easter Island Foundation. 2011.
Island at the End of the World: The Turbulent History of Easter Island by Steven Roger Fischer. Reaktion Books. 2005.
Easter Island: The Mystery Solved by Thor Heyerdahl. Random House. 1989.
The Enigmas of Easter Island: Island on the Edge by John Flenley and Paul Bahn. Oxford University Press. 2002.
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond. Penguin Books. 2011 - Argues that the Rapanui society collapsed because of self-inflicted ecological destruction.
The Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo. Free Press. 2011 - Argues that the Rapanui society collapsed because of European-introduced disease, not self-inflicted ecological destruction.
Episodes #53 - 55: Léon Foucault - French Explorer of Light and Motion
The Life and Science of Léon Foucault: The Man Who Proved the Earth Rotates by William Tobin. Cambridge University Press. 2003.
Pendulum: Léon Foucault and the Triumph of Science by Amir D. Aczel. Atria Books. 2003.
The Prism and the Pendulum: The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments in Science by Robert P. Crease. Random House. 2003.
Let There Be Light: The Story of Light from Atoms to Galaxies by Alex Montwill and Ann Breslin. Imperial College Press. 2008.
Catching the Light: The Entwined History of LIght and Mind by Arthur Zajonc. Bantam Books. 1993.
The Motion Paradox: The 2,500-Year-Old Puzzle Behind All the Mysteries of Time and Space by Joseph Mazur. Dutton. 2007.
Newton to Einstein: The Trail of Light by Ralph Baierlein. Cambridge University Press. 1992.
Episode #52: Rosaly Lopes - Brazilian Explorer of Alien Volcanoes
Volcanic Worlds: Exploring the Solar System's Volcanoes by Rosaly M.C. Lopes and Tracy K.P. Gregg. Springer/Praxis. 2004
The Volcano Adventure Guide by Rosaly M.C. Lopes. Cambridge University Press. 2005.
Io After Galileo: A New View of Jupiter's Volcanic Moon by Rosaly M.C. Lopes and John R. Spencer. 2006.
Alien Volcanoes by Rosaly M.C. Lopes and Michael Carroll. Johns Hopkins Press. 2008.
Volcanoes: A Beginner's Guide by Rosaly Lopes. Oneworld. 2011.
Episode #51: Katherine Johnson - American Pioneer of Spaceflight Engineering
Black Women Scientists in the United States by Wini Warren. Indiana University Press. 1999.
Episode #50: Michael Ventris - English Decipherer of Linear B
The Man Who Deciphered Linear B: The Story of Michael Ventris by Andrew Robinson. Thames & Hudson. 2002.
The Decipherment of Linear B by John Chadwick. Cambridge University Press. 1958.
The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphics to Maya Script. Revised edition by Maurice Pope. Thames & Hudson. 1999.
Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts by Andrew Robinson. Thames & Hudson. 2009.
The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and Catastophe CA. 1200 BC by Robert Drews. Princeton University Press. 1993.
Collapse of the Bronze Age: The Story of Greece, Troy, Israel, Egypt, and the Peoples of the Sea by Manuel Robbins. iUniverse. 2001.
Mycenaeans by Rodney Castleden. Routledge. 2005.
The Etruscans by Graeme Barker and Tom Rasner. Blackwell Publishers. 1998.
Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History by Sybille Haynes. The J. Paul Getty Museum. 2000.
Episodes #48 & 49: Arthur Evans - English Explorer of the Aegean Bronze Age
The Palace of Minos by Arthur Evans.
Before Knossos…Arthur Evans' Travels in the Balkans and Crete by Ann Brown. University of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum. 1993
Minotaur: Sir Arthur Evans and the Archaeology of the Minoan Myth by Joseph Alexander MacGillivray. Hill and Wang. 2000.
The Bull of Minos: The Great Discoveries of Ancient Greece by Leonard Cottrell. Taurus Parke Paperbacks. 2009.
Minoans by J. Lesley Fitton. British Museum Press. 2002.
The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age by Cynthia W. Shelmerdine (editor). Cambridge University Press. 2008.
The Aegean Bronze Age by Oliver Dickinson. Cambridge University Press. 1994.
The Mycenaean World by John Chadwick. Cambridge University Press. 1976.
The Mycenaeans by Louise Schofield. J. Paul Getty Museum. 2007.
In Search of the Trojan War, Updated Edition by Michael Wood. University of California Press. 1998.
The Trojan War, Annotated Updated Edition by Carol G. Thomas and Craig C. Conant. Greenwood. 2005.
The Trojan War: A New History by Barry Strauss. Simon & Shuster. 2006.
Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age by John C. McEnroe. University of Texas Press. 2010.
Knossos: A Complete Guide to the Palace of Minos by Anna Michailidou. Ekdotike Athenon. 2004.
Minoan and Mycenaean Art by Reynold Higgins. Thames & Hudson. 1997.
Aegean Art and Architecture by Donald Preziosi and Louise A. Hitchcock. Oxford University Press. 2000.
Santorini: A Guide to the Island and Its Archaeological Treasures by Christos Doumas. Ekdotike Athenon. 2003.
From the Land of the Labyrinth: Minoan Crete, 3000-1100 BC by Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, Nota Dimopoulou-Rethemiotaki, and Giorgos Rethemiotakis. Onassis Foundation. 2008.
Episodes #46 & 47: Helen Thayer - New Zealand Explorer of the Magnetic North Pole
Polar Dream by Helen Thayer. NewSage Press. 2002.
Episode #45: Jessica Watson - Australian Circumnavigator of the World
True Spirit: The True Story of a 16-Year-Old Australian Who Sailed Solo, Nonstop, and Unassisted Around the World by Jessica Watson. Atria. 2010.
Episodes #42 - 44: Carl Sagan - American Explorer of the Cosmos
Conversations with Carl Sagan edited by Tom Head. University Press of Mississippi. 2006.
Carl Sagan: A Biography by Ray Spangenburg and Kit Moser. Prometheus Books. 2009.
Carl Sagan: A Life by Keay Davidson. Wiley. 1999.
Carl Sagan: A Life in the Cosmos by William Poundstone. Henry Holt & Company. 1999.
Books by Carl Sagan:
Planets by Carl Sagan, Jonathan Norton, and editors of Time-Life, Inc. Time-Life Science Library. 1966.
Intelligent Life in the Universe by Carl Sagan and I.S. Shklovskii. Random House. 1966.
UFOs: A Scientific Debate by Carl Sagan and Thornton Page. Cornell University Press. 1972.
Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence by Carl Sagan. MIT Press. 1973.
Mars and the Mind of Man by Carl Sagan, et al. Harper & Row. 1973.
The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective by Carl Sagan and Jerome Agel. Anchor Press. 1973.
Other Worlds by Carl Sagan. Bantam Books. 1975.
Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record by Carl Sagan, et al. Random House. 1978.
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence by Carl Sagan. Ballantine Books. 1978.
Broca’s Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science by Carl Sagan. Ballantine Books. 1979.
Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Random House. 1980.
The Cold and the Dark: The World after Nuclear War by Carl Sagan, et al. Sidgwick & Jackson. 1985.
Comet by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. Ballantine Books. 1985.
Contact by Carl Sagan. Simon and Schuster. 1985.
A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race by Carl Sagan and Richard Turco. Random House. 1990.
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. Ballantine Books. 1993.
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan. Random House. 1994.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan. Ballantine Books. 1996.
Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. Ballantine Books. 1997.
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (1985 Gifford Lectures) by Carl Sagan (writer) and Ann Druyan (editor). Penguin Press. 2006.
Episodes #40 & 41: Agnes and Margaret Smith - Scottish Explorers of the Ancient Biblical World
The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels by Janet Soskice. Alfred A Knopf. 2010.
The Ladies of Castlebrae by A. Whigham Price. Alan Sutton Publishing. 1985.
In the Shadow of Sinai: A Story of Travel and Research from 1895 to 1897 by Agnes Smith Lewis. 1898.
How the Codex Was Found, A Narrative of Two Visits to the Sinai: From Mrs. Lewis’ Journals, 1892-1893 by Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson. 1893.
Episode #39: Mary Anning - English Explorer of the Jurassic World
Jurassic Mary: Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters by Patricia Pierce. Sutton Publishing. 2006.
The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World by Shelley Emling. Macmillian. 2009.
The Dragon Seekers: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin by Christopher McGowan. Perseus Publishing. 2001.
Terrible Lizards: The First Dinosaur Hunters and the Birth of a New Science by Deborah Cadbury. Henry Holt. 2001.
Episodes #36 - 38: Hubert Wilkins - Australian Aviator and Polar Explorer
The Last Explorer: Hubert Wilkins, Hero of the Great Age of Polar Exploration by Simon Nasht. Arcade. 2005.
Wings of Ice: The Mystery of the Polar Air Race by Jeff Maynard. Vintage. 2010.
Tom’s Note: Beware of the book entitled Sir Hubert Wilkins -- His Life of Adventure. An Autobiography Recounted by Lowell Thomas. This book (published in 1961) contains a lot of exaggerations and is unreliable as a true account of Wilkins’ life.
Episode #35: Elpida Hadjidaki - Greek Explorer of the Ancient Mediterranean World
Tom’s Note: I have not been able to find any general publication relating to Elpida Hadjidaki. I’ll keep looking!
Episode #34: Tom Crean - Irish Explorer of Antarctica
Tom Crean: Unsung Hero of the Scott and Shackleton Antarctic Expeditions by Michael Smith. Mountaineer Books. 2000.
Tom Crean: An Illustrated Life by Michael Smith. Collins Press. 2011.
The Worst Journey In the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. 1922.
Episodes #31 - 33: Freya Stark - British Explorer of the Middle East
The following books were written by Freya Stark:
- Baghdad Sketches (1932)
- The Valley of the Assassins(1934)
- The Southern Gates of Arabia (1936)
- Seen in the Hadhramaut (1938)
- A Winter in Arabia (1940)
- Letters From Syria (1943)
- East is West (1945)
- Perseus in the Wind (1948)
- Traveller’s Prelude (1950)
- Beyond Euphrates: Autobiography 1828-1933 (1951)
- The Coast of Incense (1953)
- Ionia, A Quest (1954)
- The Lycian Shore (1956)
- Alexander’s Path: From Caria to Cilicia (1958)
- Riding the Tigris (1959)
- Dust in the Lion’s Paw: Autobiography 1939-46 (1961)
- Rome on the Euphrates (1966)
- The Zodiac Arch (1968)
- The Minaret of Djam, An Excursion in Afghanistan (1970)
- A Peak in Darien (1976)
- The Journeys’ Echo: Selected Travel Writings (1988)
Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya Stark by Jane Fletcher Geniesse. Random House. 1999.
Episodes #28 - 30: John Wesley Powell - American Explorer of the Western United States
The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons by John Wesley Powell. Penguin Books. 2003.
A River Running West: The Life of John Wesley Powell by Donald Worster. Oxford University Press. 2001.
Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell’s 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon by Edward Dolnick. HarperCollins. 2001.
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West by Wallace Stegner. University of Nebraska Press. 1954.
Geologic Guide Along Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Utah-Wyoming by Douglas A. Sprinkel. 2000. 2000 Utah Geological Association Publication 29.
Episodes #26 & 27: Mildred Cable and Eva & Francesca French - English Explorers of the Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert: The Adventures of Three Women Travelling Across the Gobi Desert in the 1920s by Mildred Cable and Francesca French. 1942.
Across China’s Gobi: The Lives of Evangeline French, Mildred Cable, and Francesca French of the China Inland Mission by Linda K. Benson. Eastbridge. 2008.
Episodes #24 and #25: Mina Benson Hubbard - Canadian Explorer of Labrador
A Woman’s Way Through Unknown Labrador: An Account of the Exploration of the Nascaupee and George Rivers by Mina Benson Hubbard. 1908.
The Woman Who Mapped Labrador: The Life and Expedition Diary of Mina Hubbard by Roberta Buchanan, Anne Hart, and Bryan Greene. McGill-Queen’s University Press. 2005.
North of Unknown: Mina Hubbard’s Extraordinary Expedition into the Labrador Wilderness by Randall Silvis. The Lyons Press. 2004.
Episodes #22 and #23: Francisco de Orellana - Spanish Explorer of the Amazon
“The Discovery of the Amazon: According to the Account of Friar Gaspar De Carvajal and Other Documents. Ediited by H.C. Heaton. American Geographical Society. 1934. -- This is a great publication that includes Gaspar de Carvajal’s account of the expedition with extensive footnotes and comments by the editor.
Expeditions Into the Valley of the Amazons. Edited by Clements R. Markham. Cambridge University Press. 2010.
River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana’s Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon by Buddy Levy. Bantam Books. 2011.
Explorers of the Amazon: Four Centuries of Adventure Along the World’s Greatest River by Anthony Smith. Viking. 1990.
Orellana by George Millar. William Heinemann, Ltd. 1954.
Episode #21: Mireya Mayor - American Anthropologist and Explorer of the Wild
Pink Boots and a Machete: My Journey from NFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer by Mireya Mayor. National Geographic. 2011.
Episodes #19 and 20: Ibn Battuta - Moroccan Explorer of the Eastern Hemisphere
Rihla (“Travels”) by Ibn Battuta. 1355.
Note:
Five manuscript copies of Ibn Battuta’s Rihla (none of them complete) were found in the middle of the 19th-century by French soldiers in Algeria. These copies are now housed in the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris. Using these as sources, two French scholars, C. Defremery and B.R. Sanguinetti, published between 1853 and 1858 an Arabic text with French translation in four volumes entitled Voyages d’Ibn Battuta. In 1979, Vincent Monteil edited them, and they were reprinted in Paris.
Using the 1979 edition, translations have been made into several other languages. The first English translation was an abridged edition made by Sir Hamilton A.R. Gibb in 1929 entitled Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa. Gibb then started work on a complete, seven volume, English translation entitled The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A.D. 1325-1354, published by Cambridge University Press for the Hakluyt Society. Sections of the book have appeared in a book entitled Ibn Battuta in Black Africa (which was translated and edited by Said Hamdun and Noel King) published in 1975. Sections have also appeared in a book entitled The Rihla of Ibn Battuta, which was edited and translated by Agha Mahdi Husain in 1976.
The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century by Ross E. Dunn. University of California Press. 1986.
The Odyssey of Ibn Battuta: Uncommon Tales of a Medieval Adventurer by David Waines. University of Chicago Press. 2010.
Episode #18: Frank Worsley - New Zealand Navigator of the Polar Seas
Shackleton’s Boat Journey by Frank A. Worsley. 1933.
Under Sail In the Frozen North: The Log of the 1925 British Arctic Expedition by Frank Arthur Worsley. 1927.
Shackleton’s Last Captain: A Biography of Frank Worsley by John Thomson. Mosaic Press. 1999.
Episode #17: May French Sheldon - American Explorer of East Africa
Sultan to Sultan: Adventures of a Woman Among the Maasai and Other Tribes of East Africa by May French Sheldon. 1892.
White Queen: May French-Sheldon and the Imperial Origins of American Feminist Identity by Tracey Jean Boisseau. 2004. Indiana University Press.
Episode #16: William & Caroline Herschel - German-British Explorers of the Night Sky
Discoverers of the Universe: William and Caroline Herschel by Michael Hoskin. Princeton University Press. 2011.
The Georgian Star: How William and Caroline Herschel Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Cosmos by Michael D. Lemonick. W.W. Norton & Company. 2009.
The Comet Sweeper: Caroline Herschel’s Astronomical Ambition by Claire Brock. Icon Books. 2007.
The Complete Guide to the Herschel Objects: Sir William Herschel’s Star Clusters, Nebulae and Galaxies by Mark Bratton. Cambridge University Press. 2011.
Episode #15: Hiram Bingham - American Explorer of Machu Picchu
Lost City of the Incas by Hiram Bingham. 1948.
Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of Peru by Hiram Bingham. 1922.
Portrait of an Explorer: Hiram Bingham, Discoverer of Machu Picchu by Alfred M. Bingham. Iowa State University Press. 1989.
Cradle of Gold: The Story of Hiram Bingham, A Real-Live Indiana Jones, and the Search for Machu Picchu by Christopher Heaney. Palgrave Macmillan. 2010.
Episodes #13 and 14: John Franklin - British Explorer of the Arctic
Deadly Winter: The Life of Sir John Franklin by Martyn Beardsley. Naval Institute Press. 2002.
The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage by Anthony Brandt. Alfred A Knopf. 2010.
The North Pole: A Narrative History edited by Anthony Brandt, featuring Franklin, Ross, Greely, Nansen, Peary, and more... National Geographic Classics. 2005.
Arctic Labyrinth: The Quest for the Northwest Passage by Glyn Williams. University of California Press. 2010.
Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818-1909 by Pierre Berton. Viking Penguin. 1988.
The Man Who Mapped the Arctic: The Intrepid Life of George Back, Franklin’s Lieutenant by Peter Steele. Raincoast Books. 2003.
A History of Arctic Exploration: Discovery, Adventure and Endurance at the Top of the World by Matti Lainema and Juha Nurminen. Conway. 2010. -- THIS IS A GREAT BOOK!
Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie and John Geiger. Greystone Books. 2004.
Unraveling the Franklin Mystery: Inuit Testimony by David C. Woodman. McGill-Queen’s University Press. 1991.
To read actual 19th century newspaper articles from the London Times about John Franklin, click HERE
Episode #12: Kira Salak and Her Solo Expedition Through Papua New Guinea
Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Paupa New Guinea by Kira Salak. National Geographic Society. 2001.
The Cruelist Journey: Six Hundred Miles to Timbuktu by Kira Salak. National Geographic Society. 2005.
Episode #11: Georg Steller - German Explorer and Explorer of Russia & Alaska
Steller’s History of Kamchatka: Collected Information Concerning the History of Kamchatka, Its Peoples, Their Manners, Names, Lifestyles, and Various Customary Practices by Georg Steller. Translated by Margritt Engel and Karen Willmore. University of Alaska Press. 2003.
Journal of a Voyage With Bering, 1741-1742 by Georg Wilhelm Steller. Edited, with an Introduction by O.W. Frost. Translated by Margritt A. Engel and O.W. Frost. Stanford University Press. 1988.
Steller’s Island: Adventures of a Pioneer Naturalist in Alaska by Dean Littlepage. 2006.
Where the Sea Breaks Its Back: The Epic Story of Early Naturalist Georg Steller and the Russian Exploration of Alaska by Corey Ford. Alaska Northwest Books. 1966.
Bering: The Russian Discovery of America by Orcutt Frost. Yale University Press. 2003.
Episode #10: Peggy Whitson - American Explorer and NASA’s Chief Astronaut
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/whitson.html
Episode #9: Isabella Bird - Pioneer 19th Century English Explorer
The Englishwoman in America by Isabella Bird. 1856.
Six Months in the Sandwich Islands by Isabella Bird. 1875. (also called The Hawaiian Archipelago)
A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird. 1879.
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella Bird. 1880.
The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither by Isabella Bird. 1883.
Journeys In Persia and Kurdistan by Isabella Bird. 1891.
Among the Tibetans by Isabella Bird. 1894.
Korea and Her Neighbors by Isabella Bird. 1898.
The Yangtze Valley and Beyond by Isabella Bird. 1899.
Amazing Traveler Isabella Bird by Evelyn Kaye. 1999.
Episode #8: Jacques-Yves Cousteau - French Explorer of the Undersea World
The Silent World by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. 1953.
Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King by Brad Matsen. 2009.
Episode #7: Dr. Jane Goodall - Explorer of the Great Apes
Through A Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe by Jane Goodall. 1990.
Africa In My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters, The Early Years by Jane Goodall. 2000.
The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior by Jane Goodall. 1986.
Jane Goodall 50 Years at Gombe: A Tribute to Five Decades of Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation by Jane Goodall. 2010.
Episode #6: Sir Edmund Hillary - New Zealand Mountaineer and Polar Explorer
High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary. 1985.
View From the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir by the First Person to Conquer Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary. 1992.
Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life by Alexa Johnston. 2005.
The Crossing of Antarctica: The Commonwealth Transantarctic Expedition, 1955-1958 by Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hillary
Crevasse Roulette: The First Trans-Antarctic Crossing, 1957-58 by Jon Stephenson. 2009.
Episode #5: Sheck Exley - Pioneer Cave Diver and Explorer
Caverns Measureless to Man by Sheck Exley. 1994. Published by Cave Books.
The Taming of the Slough: A Comprehensive History of Peacock Springs by Sheck Exley. 2004. Published by The National Speleological Society, Inc.
“World’s Largest Underwater Cave Discovered,” by Sheck Exley. 1994. Published in Underwater Speleology, v. 21, p. 8-13.
Cave Geology by Arthur N. Palmer. 2007. Published by Cave Books.
Episode #4: Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen’s Belgica Diary: The First Scientific Expedition to the Antarctic by Roald Amundsen; edited by Hugo Decleir. 1999.
Voyage of the Belgica: Fifteen Months in the Antarctic by Adrien de Gerlache.
Roald Amundsen by Tor Bomann-Larsen. 1995. See the 2006 edition translated by Ingrid Christophersen. Sutton Publishing Ltd: Goucestershire, England.
Race to the End: Amundsen, Scott, and the Attainment of the South Pole by Ross D.E. MacPhee. 2010.
The Last Place On Earth by Roland Huntford. 1999.
Race for the South Pole: The Expedition Diaries of Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. 2010.
True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race To the Pole by Bruce Henderson. 2005.
Episode #3: Douglas Mawson
Sir Douglas Mawson’s The Home of the Blizzard, Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914. 1915. London: Ballantyne Press.
Philip Ayres’ Mawson: A Life. 1999. Miegunyah Press: Carlton South, Victoria, Australia.
Lennard Bickel’s Mawson’s Will: The Greatest Survival Story Ever Written. 1977. Stein and Day: New York
Episode #2: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance
Ernest Shackleton’s South: The Story of Shackleton’s 1914-17 Expedition. 1982. London: Century Publishing.
Frank A. Worsley’s Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure. 1931. London: Philip Allen
Roland Huntford’s Shackleton. 1985. London: Hodder & Stoughton
Edward Wilson’s Diary of the Discovery Expedition. 1975. London: Blandford Press
Caroline Alexander’s The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition. 1998. London: Bloombsbury. Great photographs and overview of the expedition!