Ice: Nature and Culture

by Klaus Dodds

In Ice , Klaus Dodds provides a wide-ranging exploration of the cultural, natural, and geopolitical history of this most slippery of subjects. Beyond Earth, ice has been found on other planets, moons, and meteors—and scientists even think that ice-rich asteroids played a pivotal role in bringing water to our blue home. But our outlook need not be cosmic to see ice’s importance. Here today and gone tomorrow in many parts of the temperate world, ice is a perennial feature of polar and mountainous regions, where it has long shaped human culture. But as climates change, ice caps and glaciers melt, and waters rise, more than ever this frozen force touches at the core of who we are.

As Dodds reveals, ice has played a prominent role in shaping both the earth’s living communities and its geology. Throughout history, humans have had fun with it, battled over it, struggled with it, and made money from it—and every time we open our refrigerator doors, we’re reminded how ice has transformed our relationship with food. Our connection to ice has been captured in art, literature, movies, and television, as well as made manifest in sport and leisure. In our landscapes and seascapes, too, we find myriad reminders of ice’s chilly power, clues as to how our lakes, mountains, and coastlines have been indelibly shaped by the advance and retreat of ice and snow. Beautifully illustrated throughout, Ice is an informative, thought-provoking guide to a substance both cold and compelling.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2018

About the author

Klaus Dodds is Professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London. He was educated at Wellington College and the University of Bristol where he completed degrees in geography and political science. After taking up a position at the University of Edinburgh, he was appointed to a lectureship at Royal Holloway in 1994.

In 2005 Klaus Doods was awarded the annual Philip Leverhulme Prize by the Leverhulme Trust for "an outstanding contribution to political geography and ‘critical geopolitics'"

Reviews

[Wendelle]

This is written by a geopolitics professor and packs dense information into a small book regarding the science, occurrence, history, political status, and artistic and literary significance of ice, icebergs, glaciers, permafrost in our planet

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a more basic introductory text but still filled with many interesting details. The real highlight was all the photos and paintings.