I remember attending an event about polar governance in Canada nearly a decade ago, where an Antarctic marine scientist did not understand why representatives of the Government of Nunavut were cynical about some of his interventions. ‘But what’s wrong with good governance?’, he protested. The Nunavut policymakers saw the question as being one of whose models of governance. This interchange has always puzzled me. Jessica O’Reilly’s fascinating account of Antarctic scientists and policymakers, or ‘Antarcticans’, now goes some serious way in explaining why.