Thor Heyerdahl proved to be highly manoeuvrable, and fish congregated between the nine balsa logs in such numbers that ancient sailors could have possibly relied on fish for hydration in the absence of other sources of fresh water. Other rafts have repeated the voyage, inspired by "Kon-Tiki". Heyerdahl's book about "" has been translated into 70 languages. The documentary film of the expedition entitled "Kon-Tiki" won an Academy Award in 1951. A dramatised version was released in 2012, also called "Kon-Tiki", and was nominated for both the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for
Thor Heyerdahl Museum and the National Library of Norway in Oslo. Heyerdahl was born in Larvik, Norway, the son of master brewer Thor Heyerdahl (1869–1957) and his wife, Alison Lyng (1873–1965). As a young child, Heyerdahl showed a strong interest in zoology, inspired by his mother who had a strong interest in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. He created a small museum in his childhood home, with a common adder ("Vipera berus") as the main attraction. He studied zoology and geography at the faculty of biological science at the University of Oslo. At the same time, he privately studied Polynesian culture and