This book is the first to describe the development of scientific activity in the Antarctic (as distinct from exploration) in all its aspects. Coverage spans three centuries, starting with Halley who laid the foundations of geophysics which was to be the principal driving force behind Antarctic science for most of its history. Although early researchers built up a picture of the main features of the Antarctic environment, the idea of science specific to the continent emerged only later. As the main disciplines of oceanography, earth sciences, the sciences of atmosphere and geospace,...