Journeying to the most alien place on the planet, science writer Gabrielle Walker presents a biography of Antarctica, weaving its history of exploration with the science currently being conducted there. Walker gives us glimpses at the marvelous creatures clinging to life above and below the ice, the international community drawn to an existence of extremes, the desolate stretches of surface that yield surprising information about life beyond our planet, and the crumbling ice shelves acting as global climate bellwethers.