{"product_id":"the-mediterranean-was-a-desert-a-voyage-of-the-glomar-challenger","title":"The Mediterranean was a Desert: A Voyage of the Glomar Challenger","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe famous geological research ship Glomar Challenger was a radically new instrument that revolutionized earth science in the same sense that the cyclotron revolutionized nuclear physics  and its deep-sea drilling voyages  conducted from 1968 through 1983  were some of the great scientific adventures of our time. Beginning with the vessels first cruises  which lent support to the idea of continental drift  the Challenger played a key part in the widely publicized plate-tectonics revolution and its challenge to more conventional theories. Here the leading oceanographer and earth scientist Kenneth Hs offers an intensely personal account of the experiences of the ships diverse crews--the sailors  drillers  marine technicians  and scientists who braved not only the oceans resistance to surrendering its secrets but also the difficulties of balky machinery  physical illness  close quarters  and all-too-human temperaments. But the intellectual rewards of the journeys also abounded  and Hs is the ideal writer to convey the excitement with which he and other crew scientists pursued them. The quintessential insider  he offers biographical sketches  humorous anecdotes  background information from the history of geology  and excerpts from the ships daily operational report--all skillfully combined with a narrative history of the ships explorations in the Pacific  Atlantic  and Indian oceans and the polar seas.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44985213845557,"sku":"ByrdShop_0691082936","price":53.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780691082936.jpg?v=1770852420","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-mediterranean-was-a-desert-a-voyage-of-the-glomar-challenger","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}