Publisher's Weekly: This is an entertaining, often irreverent, history of the scientific discovery of the Ice Age. Bolles is fascinated by the way in which scientific knowledge advances. He challenges the notion that it proceeds in a rational and orderly manner, always building on previous knowledge. People, he claims, "learn unsuspected things, pulling knowledge, like rabbits, from empty hats," and often, convincing scientists of a new idea is more a matter of politics than of science. As an example of this theory, he weaves together the biographies of three important players in the great Ice Age debate. Bolles focuses on Louis Agassiz, the naturalist who first theorized the Ice Age in 1837, but was unable to persuade the scientific community to accept his findings for almost 20 years. Second is Elisha Kent Kane, an adventurer and poet whose report on his journey to the north of Greenland in the 1850s provided the popular imagination with the vision of immense seas of ice at the Pole pouring great rivers of ice into the Atlantic and Greenland seas. Finally, Bolles writes of Charles Lyell, the great Scottish geologist whose book The Principles of Geology ignored the possibility that glaciers were capable of changing the earth's surface, and who resisted the notion of the Ice Age for many years after Agassiz had theorized about it. A master politician among his colleagues, once he was convinced of the theory, it became more widely accepted. Bolles claims that it was only the interaction among these three individuals, and many others who are mentioned in passing, that led to a lasting new understanding of the world in which we live.
Booklist: It isn't often that a historian of science produces a page-turner, but Bolles has. Ravishingly written and massively researched, this could well become a classic in its field.
Library Journal: Exceptionally readable. Bolles's book is on a par with Dava Sobel's Longitude and James Watson's The Double Helix. Highly recommended.
Kirkus: Thrilling scenes of arctic winter animate an episodic examination of how 19th century scientists slowly used circumstantial evidence to conceive of a distant Ice Age.
Atlantic Monthly: Mr. Bolles's account of the long dispute is consistently interesting for his description of the participants and their various alliances, whimsies, and jealousies, for the grim ordeal of the Kane party, and for the author's style, which is peppery and sometimes startlingly eloquent. The Greenland glacier "was there in front of Kane, prowling across the earth, as unexpected by science as was the first dinosaur bone."
Los Angeles Times: In "The Ice Finders," Edmund Blair Bolles tells the riveting story of three major plays in the discovery of the Ice Age...The story is inherently dramatic...The conflicts between science and religion, personal enmities and the burning desire for fame, the awful hardships Kane and his crew suffered on their icebound journey are carefully laid out... The characters in this tale are so engaging we could well learn more about them here. Nevertheless "The Ice Finders" is an engrossing if at times excessively breezy account of a fascinating period in the history of modern science.
Boston Globe: [a] vibrant account of the resistance met by ideas that challenge our view of the world. ... You cannot conceive of how elephants ended up in a block of ice? You will if you read of Kane's troubles. .. In Bolles's narrative [Agassiz] regains much of the scientific luster that time (and new knowldge) tarnished.
San Diego Union-Tribune: The exploration of these [individual] personalities and [tinted] lenses is perhaps the real story of "The Ice Finders." As much as anything, the book is a vivid essay on will and willfulness. Each man is portrayed in an interesting, if not always sympathetic, manner. ... The author's frequent droll comments add another dimension to the tale
Washington Times: Mr. Bolles is a gifted narrator, adept at using literary stagecraft to bring ideas into focus.
From Louise B. Young (prizewinning author of The Blue Planet): I found it extremely interestinging. And I feel that all students who plan to make a career in the sciences should read this book because it presents a vivid example of the resistance to new explanations of already-established fact.
From the chairman of a university geology department: The copy of your book has arrived and I have read about half of it so far and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Your approach to the topic is delightful. I have already recommended it to numerous people and I am inspired to have a part of our department web site devoted to great books for geologists.
From a reader in New York: The tidy little volume (how nicely packaged it is) is perfect for slipping into my coat pocket and reading on buses, subways, and in line at the post office. Aside from the ripping tale, I think what I liked best is your voice.
At first I thought, no, don't begin that way, but you were right. Within a very few pages, I threw away my mental blue pencil and just enjoyed. Although I would have gone for a chillier but more authoritative voice (silly me), I think you were absolutely right to be our friendly, slightly bemused, often amusing fellow traveler.
From a reader in Idaho: One of the joys of semi-retirement (a little consulting) is that I can spend time reading among other things, and I have just finished reading The Ice Finders - in a day. Couldn't put it down. Lovely when that happens, and I want to thank you for your efforts in providing other folks pleasure.
From a reader in Pennsylvania: I've just finished reading The Ice Finders and I would like to compliment you on a wonderful achievement in the history of science. It is eminently readable, unlike so much science (or history) which usually puts me to sleep better than any Tylenol PM. In fact, I couldn't put it down. Thank you for writing this book!
