Lloyd Spencer Davis

George Murray Levick was the physician on Robert Falcon Scott’s tragic Antarctic expedition of 1910. Marooned for an Antarctic winter, Levick passed the time by becoming the first man to study penguins up close. His findings were so shocking to Victorian morals that they were quickly suppressed and seemingly lost to history. A century later, Lloyd Spencer Davis rediscovers Levick and his findings during the course of his own scientific adventures in Antarctica. Levick’s long-suppressed manuscript reveals not only an incredible survival story, but one that will change our understanding of an entire species. A Polar Affair reveals the last untold tale from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. It is perhaps the greatest of all of those stories—but why was it hidden to begin with? The ever-fascinating and charming penguin holds the key. Moving deftly between both Levick’s and Davis’s explorations, observations, and comparisons in biology over the course of a century, A Polar Affair reveals cutting-edge findings about ornithology, in which the sex lives of penguins are the jumping-off point for major new insights into the underpinnings of evolutionary biology itself.

A Polar Affair

Ein vergessener Polarforscher, ein aufregender Fund und eine erstaunliche Erkenntnis

Das geheime Liebesleben der Pinguine

A captivating blend of true adventure and natural history by one of today’s leading penguin experts and Antarctic explorers. George Murray Levick was the physician on Robert Falcon Scott’s tragic Antarctic expedition of 1910. Marooned for an Antarctic winter, Levick passed the time by becoming the first man to study penguins up close. His findings were so shocking to Victorian morals that they were quickly suppressed and seemingly lost to history. A century later, Lloyd Spencer Davis rediscovers Levick and his findings during the course of his own scientific adventures in Antarctica. Levick’s long-suppressed manuscript reveals not only an incredible survival story, but one that will change our understanding of an entire species. A Polar Affair reveals the last untold tale from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. It is perhaps the greatest of all of those stories—but why was it hidden to begin with? The ever-fascinating and charming penguin holds the key. Moving deftly between both Levick’s and Davis’s explorations, observations, and comparisons in biology over the course of a century, A Polar Affair reveals cutting-edge findings about ornithology, in which the sex lives of penguins are the jumping-off point for major new insights into the underpinnings of evolutionary biology itself.

Antarctica's Forgotten Hero and the Secret Love Lives of Penguins

Eine bislang unerzählte Geschichte aus dem großen Zeitalter der Polarexpeditionen Als der legendäre Polarforscher Robert F. Scott seine letzte Etappe zum Südpol antrat, ließ er sechs Teilnehmer der Expedition an der Basisstation zurück. George Murray Levick war einer von ihnen. Über Monate hinweg in einer Eishöhle überwinternd, gelang es ihm als Erstem, Adeliepinguine zu studieren. Was er sah, war bahnbrechend und schockierend zugleich: So unerhört und unfassbar erschien ihm das Sexualleben der Vögel, dass er seine Beobachtungen später verschlüsselt und nur in einer Auflage von hundert Exemplaren veröffentlichte. Sie gerieten in Vergessenheit – wie Levick selbst auch. Hundert Jahre später stößt der Forscher Lloyd Spencer Davis im Zuge seiner eigenen Wissenschaftsabenteuer auf Levicks Aufzeichnungen. In seinem Buch erzählt er dessen spektakuläre Überlebensgeschichte im ewigen Eis und würdigt Levicks akribische Studie über die Pinguine, deren Liebesleben dem unseren weit ähnlicher ist, als wir je dachten. Mit großem Farbbildteil.

An award-winning zoologist travels in Charles Darwin's footsteps, and in search of the meaning of life. In one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, zoologist Lloyd Spencer Davis comes face to face with an enraged leopard seal. Towering ice cliffs, a ferocious creature of the deep, and the extreme Antarctic environment all turn Davis's world view on its head. 'What the hell am I doing here?' This question sets Davis on a quest for insight and meaning in a world that still pitches theories of evolution against belief in a Creator; the science of natural selection against a faith that asserts our world was crafted by Intelligent Design. With a self-deprecating grin packed along with his cabin baggage - even when his passport isn't - Davis decides to follow the travels of the eminent nineteenth-century naturalist, Charles Darwin: the man who did more to change our understanding of this planet than any other biologist. Looking for Darwin gives us a personal and intimate insight into Darwin and what drove the man. It is also an attempt to resolve that initially panicked - and then far-reaching - question, that first hit Davis on the big ice. With a wealth of research and vivid imagery - along with a disarming honesty -Lloyd Spencer Davis takes the reader on an unforgettable world tour.

Looking for Darwin

Meet 'Bill Bryson in Antarctica' in this engaging book by one of the world's authority on penguins. Part memoir, partly the research of a field biologist, Professor Penguin could be called 'How Penguins Shaped My Life'. Based on journals kept during Davis's years of working with penguins in the wild, the story takes readers to remote locations: Antarctica, the Galapagos, the deserts of Chile and Peru, the Falkland Islands, the wild coasts of Argentina and South Africa, and New Zealand. Davis, a world authority on penguins, reveals that these box-office favourites are not the cute 'mate for life' animals we've been led to believe. He also reveals that penguins are a lot like humans - sometimes disturbingly so - when it comes to their basic needs: sex, food, shelter, marriage, family and travel. Over the years that Davis studies penguins, he realises that they are far more complex and nuanced than he imagines at his first encounter. 'They really don't deserve to be seen as so black and white.' He expertly marries scientific knowledge with his own anecdotes - told with humour, hard-earned knowledge and insight. He also includes stories about those who have helped advance our knowledge of penguins -other 'Professor Penguins'. Implicit throughout is Davis's philosophy - the more we learn about the natural world, and specifically penguins, the more we learn about ourselves. And he asks: Is the isolation of Antarctica sufficient to protect penguins from us?

Lloyd Spencer Davis

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