Possible errors in the book Polar Explorers for Kids

We used the book Polar Explorers for Kids by Maxine Snowden as a spine for a project on polar exploration. The book provided a good overview of the history of the exploration of both poles. However, as we were using a number of other resources, I identified a number of factual errors, and points where the text was lacking in clarity, enough to bother me. I have listed these below in case it is helpful to anyone interested in using the book.

  • p37 Parry did not realise that the location he and his party had reached was not the Geographic North Pole but the Magnetic North Pole.  This is just after the book quotes extensively from a report by Parry, in which he clearly states that he had crossed 110 degrees west, at latitude 74.33’20”, and does not anywhere suggest that he thought he had reached either the geographic or the magnetic pole. The author herself notes that James Clark Ross was the first to reach the magnetic north pole on a later expedition.
  • p105: When Amundsen achieved a new “farthest south,” 82 degrees 20 minutes south latitude…  The diary entry which follows is about Amundsen passing Shackleton’s 88 degrees 23 minutes south.
  • p116: A week later, on the way back, three of [Shackleton’s] men reached the Magnetic South Pole. The men who went to the South Magnetic Pole were not those with Shackleton, but other expedition members who had not gone on the South Pole attempt.
  • p117: After spending 326 days trapped in the ice, the boat was finally freed of its icy prison as spring arrived and the weather warmed a bit. This comment seems bizarre to me, as the Endurance sank rather than being freed.
  • p118-119: He would attempt to reach Grytviken, the whaling station at South Georgia. In fact, the whaling station that Shackleton’s party eventually reached was Stromness rather than Grytviken, but this is not clarified in the text.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *