The National Science Foundation and British Antarctic Survey did well to invite travel writer Sarah Wheeler to join them in Antarctica. A privileged anomaly on this continent of science, she larked around from Mac City to remote field camps to the Antarctic Peninsula, her finely tuned pencil poised. A fine portrait of modern Antarctic scientists (and cooks and truck drivers), her book weaves stories of modern adventure with commentary on the heroic age of exploration, altogether a thoroughly enjoyable tribute.  (ANT45, $13.95)