This ambitious book by Stephen E. Pyne approaches the massive ice-sheet of Antarctica from all possible angles and has been appropriately hailed as a pathbreaking study. Upon its publication in 1986, "The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica" immediately gained credence as a profound exploration of the sublime nothingness of the continent. Pyne touches on the elements of Antarctica emphasized it as a realm of history, a place of dominant landscapes, an inspiration for literature and art, and a scientific treasure trove. He argues that for all of its geology and geography, geomagnetism and weather, biology and boredom, Antarctica remains at sum a diminished location in which water has been transformed into mineral. There are no cultural studies beyond those on the explorers themselves.As many have commented, the ice of Pyne's characterization is a study in nihilism. According to one reviewer, "The appeal of this rich and awestruck book lies in its author's strenuous attempts to come to terms with the sheer negativity and materialism of Antarctica" (Kirkus Review, available on-line at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ice-Antarctica-Stephen-J-Pyne/dp/1842126741, accessed February 15, 2009). As another reviewer remarked, "Pyne uses two metaphors throughout the book. Antarctica is an information sink, requiring the input of huge amounts of information before it will give anything in return; it is a reductionist, abstract environment, both physically and intellectually alienating. Second, Antarctica is a distorted mirror, reflecting back what each individual and culture brings to it." Pyne offers "a mystical mood in this book that hints that human endeavors in Antarctica will never really touch "The Ice" (Richard Gillespie, review in "Isis" 78 (September 1987): 456-57). Environmental historian Donald Wooster commented about Pyne's Antarctica, "To penetrate it scientifically required airplanes, remote sensors, and advanced crystallography. To apprehend it aesthetically took the modernist evolution in the arts, which has emphasized abstraction, subjectivity, and minimalism."All of these reviewers agree, however, that this is a powerful, important book requiring consideration in any study of Antarctica.