Great Expeditions 50 Journeys That Changed Our World

Foreword by Levison Wood, bestselling author of Walking the Nile A comprehensive, fascinating and inspiring gallery of the great adventures that changed our world.

The “excellent resource” used by both amateur and professional astronomers for sixty years, filled with references and enlightening articles (Booklist). Since this invaluable annual publication first appeared in 1962, stargazers and sky-watchers have enjoyed its comprehensive, jargon-free monthly sky notes and its authoritative set of sky charts that enable backyard astronomers everywhere to plan their viewing of the year’s eclipses, comets, meteor showers, and minor planets, as well as detailing the phases of the moon and visibility and locations of the planets throughout the year. It also includes a variety of entertaining and informative articles. In the 2022 edition, you’ll find coverage of a wide range of topics including: A History of the Amateur Astronomical Society: 1962 to 2022 Expanding Cosmic Horizons Frank Drake and His Equation Remote Telescopes Skies Over Ancient America, and more After six decades, The Yearbook of Astronomy continues to be essential reading for anyone fascinated by the magic and mysteries of our universe.

Discover the stories and follow the journeys of more than 20 of the world’s most heroic and extraordinary explorers, including Ibn Battuta, Zheng He, Mary Kingsley, Norgay and Hillary, Ellen MacArthur and Neil Armstrong. Throughout history, explorers have bravely ventured out into the unknown to discover new lands, seek treasure, make scientific discoveries or simply achieve something that’s never been done before. Amazing Expeditions will take readers on a thrilling voyage over land, sea, sky and space. Some of the journeys were triumphs and others ended in failure and tragedy, but each is a riveting story and a lesson in perseverance and grit that may well inspire a new generation of adventurers.

Explorer and survival expert Ed Stafford looks at 25 of the greatest expeditions in history and what it takes to survive mentally and physically.

Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan, David Livingstone, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong: these are some of the greatest travellers of all time. This book chronicles their stories and many more, describing epic voyages of discovery from the extraordinary migrations out of Africa by our earliest ancestors to the latest voyages into space. In antiquity, we follow Alexander the Great to the Indus and Hannibal across the Alps; in medieval times we trek beside Genghis Khan and Ibn Battuta. The Renaissance brought Columbus to the Americas and the circumnavigation of the world. The following centuries saw gaps in the global maps filled by Tasman, Bering and Cook, and journeys made for scientific purposes, most famously by von Humboldt and Darwin. In modern times, the last inhospitable ends of the earth were reached including both poles and the world's highest mountain and new elements were conquered. With evocative photographs, paintings and portraits, The Great Journeys in History reveals the stories of those who were there first, who explored the unexplored and who set out into the unknown, bringing alive the romance and thrill of travel.

Penetrating biographies written by a group of distinguished travel writers, broadcasters, and historians reveal the lives, motives, and passions of forty major explorers in history. It has always been mankind’s gift, or curse, to be inquisitive, and through the ages people have been driven to explore the limits of the worlds known to them—and beyond. Here are the stories of forty of the world’s greatest explorers from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. These are men and women who changed our perception of the world through their courageous adventures. Organized thematically, the book opens with the oceanic journeys of five hundred years ago, when the great era of recorded exploration began. The following sections look at The Land, Rivers, Polar Ice, Deserts, Life on Earth, and New Frontiers. Many of these explorers recounted their journeys in vivid firsthand accounts; others were superb artists or photographers. The book features quotes from their journals and reports, and it is illustrated with paintings, photographs, engravings, and maps, so that we can experience their adventures through their own eyes and in their own words. Featured explorers include: Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, James Cook, Lewis and Clark, Richard Burton, Samuel de Champlain, David Livingstone, Roald Amundsen, Gertrude Bell, Alexander von Humboldt, Yuri Gagarin, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Stories of the thrills and hardships faced by modern expeditions that continue to enhance our understanding of the world around us, now in a compact edition. This book profiles forty modern explorers who have disproved the idea that there is nowhere left to discover. Some are experienced and celebrated worldwide, while others are just starting to make their mark. The Modern Explorers delves into challenging and extraordinary expeditions to the remotest parts of the world by explorers from the United States, Australia, China, France, and beyond. Nine thematic sections cover all terrains: Polar, Desert, Rainforest, Mountain, Ocean, River, Under Sea, Under Land, and Lost Worlds. Written mainly by the explorers themselves, these accounts provide unique insight into what it is like to join an expedition, from being dragged through the top of the rainforest canopy in an inflatable raft suspended from a balloon to pedaling a boat across the Pacific to standing on the edge of an erupting volcano.

“A fascinating and unique look at these celebrated expeditions. Ed Stafford knows all too well how important an explorer’s kit can be and this brilliant book gives great insight into the role it plays.” —Sir Ranulph Fiennes In this unique and enthralling book, explorer and survivalist Ed Stafford curates 25 great expeditions through the lens of the kit these remarkable explorers took with them. In an environment where lack of preparation could mean certain death, the equipment carried, ridden and sailed into uncharted territories could mean the success or failure of an expedition. Was it simply a case of better provisions and preparation that helped Amundsen beat Scott to the South Pole? And how has the equipment taken to Everest changed since Hillary’s first ascent? Through carefully curated photographs and specially commissioned illustrations we can see at a glance the scale, style and complexity of the items taken into the unknown by the greatest explorers of all time, and the impact each item had on their journey. How it potentially saved a life, or was purely for comfort or entertainment, and how these objects of survival have evolved and adapted as science advances, and we plunge further into the extremes. Conquering fears and mountains, adversity and wild jungles, each item these explorers flew, pulled or hauled played a crucial role in their ambitious and dangerous missions to find out a little more about our world. Through each of these objects, we can gain a better understanding ourselves. Get an intimate view of these and more amazing expeditions: Roald Amundsen, race to the Pole: Norwegian expedition (snowshoes, Primus stove, piano, violin, gramophone…) Amelia Earhart, first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (Bendix radio direction finder, parachutes, emergency life raft, rouge…) Tim Slessor, first overland from London to Singapore (machetes, crowbar, typewriter, Remington dry shaver, tea…) Nellie Bly, around the world in 72 days (Mumm champagne, accordion, silk waterproof wrap, dark gloves…)