Switzerland has a longstanding scientific history in polar regions. The pioneers behind this history and their achievements are often largely unknown outside of the country. The memoirs of one of Switzerland’s greatest explorers and early polar scientist, Alfred de Quervain, are now available in Shakespeare’s language. “Across Greenland’s Ice Cap, The Remarkable Swiss Scientific Expedition of 1912” is published by McGill-Queen’s University Press and is illustrated by a selection of colourful hand-tinted lantern slides. It also includes a historical and biographical introduction by Martin Hood, and reflections on the journey’s scientific legacy by Andreas Vieli and Martin Lüthi.
The book is available in bookshops and online. It will be presented at the Swiss Polar Day 2022.
Header photograph: The expedition ship Fox at Holstensborg, 1912. Alfred de Quervain/ETHZ Library