Galen Rowell (1940-2002) devoted his life to wilderness exploration, photography, and writing, making more than twenty journeys to the polar regions. In 1992 he received a grant from the National Science Foundation to travel around Antarctica with scientists to research this book. Rowell is a recipient of the Ansel Adams Award for his contributions to wilderness photography, and his work has often appeared in Life, National Geographic, and other major publications. Among his eleven previous books are Galen Rowell's Vision: The Art of Adventure Photography (1993) and Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape (1986). He photographed and produced My Tibet, with text by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for the University of California Press in 1990.