Bold Endeavors: Lessons from Polar and Space Exploration

Great research, and a good look at what makes a successful survivor in the harshest conditions.

Enjoyable report on the useful lessons gleaned from expeditions of yore and how they may be applicable to future expeditions--specifically in inhospitable, remote environments. The emphasis is on identifying and examining the qualities and behaviors that render some individuals and groups more resilient than others in confined and isolated situations that may last for months or years. This book reads more like a report than a narrative. Points are made in a matter-of-fact tone, rather than with with the literary flair one would expect of fiction or a well-written history or biography. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and found it informative and thought provoking. And, frankly, the report-like tone allows one to read chapters out of order without missing something vital in the process. Definitely worth the read and, afterward, a place on your library's shelf.

This is a great book; it describes the psychological toll it takes to face austere situations alone or as a small member of a team.

Fascinating and insightful - especially enjoyed reading references to polar exploration

Bold Endeavors draws the celestial and terrestrial worlds together, investigating how humans succeed (or don't), and why, when they find themselves in remote, harsh, lonely, and trapped conditions. Jack Stuster's research on both explorers on Earth and astronauts in space illustrates the connections between the two realms, showing the consistencies and quirks of the human mind that transcend even their location on this planet. In that, Bold Endeavors is a fascinating read for anyone who likes adventure and exploration, as well as anyone who wants to understand human behavior and psychology better. The combination of those two will keep readers turning the pages. But the book is applicable even to those who won't ever make a polar, or orbital, voyage, in that its extremes nevertheless probe humans' fundamental nature. In the space community, Stuster's research is used to help plan the next generation of bold endeavors, to learn from mistakes of the past and more smoothly go where no person has gone before. I am sure it will continue to prove useful and compelling for exploration both above and below the atmosphere.

Dr. Jack Stuster's "Bold Endeavors" distills a considerable amount of careful research into a book that is much more interesting than the usual dry study of this nature. By collecting data from a number of disparate sources, including Shackleton's 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, Thor Heyerdahl's "Ra" voyage, years of military experience at bases in the Antarctic, and even undersea habitat experiments, Dr. Stuster has produced an exceptionally well thought out series of suggestions applicable not only to expeditions on Earth, but to future Moon settlements and Mars expeditions as well, assuming these ever happen (I would prefer to be more optimistic and I know Dr. Stuster is, but the current trend is not promising). In fact, this book has become required reading among the astronauts, who have recognized its value. The book is organized into chapters that deal with a particular facet of human behavior as it applies to expedition settings, such as personnel selection, personal space, group interaction and the like. Dr. Stuster carefully illustrates each chapter's point with well-selected vignettes from previous expedition experience. For example, he discusses in-depth the importance of leadership by comparing and contrasting the successes of Shackleton, Admiral Byrd, Thor Heyerdahl and others to a particularly good example of a poor leader, Lt. Charles Wilkes, the commander of the somewhat fraught 1838-1842 US Navy expedition, noted only for discovering imaginary territory and the endless conflicts between Wilkes and the unfortunate men under his command. It is worth noting that while Wilkes' first reaction to leadership was to hoist a distinguishing pennant and basically promote himself to acting Commodore as soon as he was out of sight of land, Shackleton, Byrd, and Heyerdahl, though obviously in charge, led their men in as egalitarian and considerate a manner as possible. Stuster also points out the importance of little things in keeping an expedition's morale high - shared meals, opportunities for privacy, a good viewing window on a space station. By including and discussing negative as well as positive expedition experiences Dr. Stuster has produced a very valuable book that will not only be of interest to our astronauts and persons planning expeditions here on Earth (read Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" for a recent example of bad expedition planning and personnel selection), but also to the general reader and even writers of fiction and science fiction dealing with small groups in dangerous situations.

This is an excellent book to understand the historic human challenges associated with histroic human polar exploration and what will be confronted by future humans bases on the Moon and Mars. The analogs of the past have much to teach us for the future if we take the time to understand the past experience and relate it to what humanity is now seeking to do with a lunar base in the next two decades. The book is exciting, entertaining, and insightful. For any person thinking about the challenges that will confront humans associated with the first permanent human lunar base, this is a must read.

Bold Endeavors by Jack Stuster proved to be a real page-turner! Since childhood reading about adventures and explorers had been my favorite literature. In this book the persons behind these endeavors came to life. They were of flesh and blood and you as a reader took part of their everyday life, their hardships and personal problems. A thrilling experience. A lesson in the importance of relationships not only among people in isolation A lesson of use at job interviews, schools and even in families. I am thankful for an added knowledge and understanding of the many problems associated with these Endeavors. This book should be a "must" to all young people.

A highly useful book for people who experience ICE environments, and a pleasure to read anyway.

Stuster’s book resonates, even for those far from contemplating a mission to Mars or the polar icecap. Anyone who has had to endure the ‘pressure cooker’ environments of isolated small groups, long periods away from home, or the stresses of being controlled from afar, let alone many other more mundane experiences of life, will be able to relate. This is a fascinating documented insight into living in challenging isolation and recommendations for the future. The author draws from experiences of the past, especially long stays in Polar Regions from the late nineteenth century onwards (but curiously not from other parallel experiences, such as life in prison). Experience from long arctic winters, space flights, long duration submarine patrols and the like, has highlighted problems of depression, hostility, sleep disorders, and impaired cognition. He lists fifteen key practical factors of ‘habitability’. In the case of sleep and sleep management, teams need to work in synchronisation and avoid sleep disturbance or excessive sleeping; coordinated sleep patterns must take precedent over ‘free cycling’ from normal circadian rhythms. ‘Zeitgebers’ are used to influence patterns. Other factors include: clothing; exercise (e.g. 2 hours per day); workload and managing abrupt changes; the effects of stress on performance and best ways of reducing it; medical and psychological assistance; décor and personalisation; the importance of good food, occasional special dinners and the occasional drink, and the importance of the role of the cook in relation to all others; group interaction; personal hygiene, especially the pleasure of occasional showers; the challenges related to outside communications; personnel selection; personal space and privacy. On page 129 there are telling before-and-after photos of three participants in the 1888-9 Belgica Antarctic winter-over, the very first of its kind. Lethargy develops in nights lasting months. He cites Weber’s Law; the more grubby and odiferous one is, the more grubby and odiferous one needs to become before noticing. People put on weight - up to 30 pounds and pot bellies develop. There is deprivation, which includes lack of privacy and personal space, coupled with the permanent challenge of ensuring effective team coordination. Participants need to suppress their individual quirks. Subgroups can form and create negative effects. There are even curious evolutionary by-products; submariners becoming cross-eyed because of their lack of use of far sight, and are advised to refrain from driving for three days once back on shore. This is a valuable, fascinating and enlightening insight.