A man using scientific equipment in a polar environment

Circulating Arctic Science

Arctic science in circulation at the Royal Geographical Society c.1880-1914

Research by Peter Martin

Peter Martin

September 2015 start, 2018 completion. University of Oxford: PI Dr Richard Powell

Overview

The project used the RGS-IBG Collections to understand the Society’s involvement in the geographical exploration of the Arctic regions at the turn of the 20th century. By examining the expeditions undertaken by three Arctic explorers – Fridtjof Nansen, Ejnar Mikkelsen and Robert Peary – the project studied the production and circulation of geographical knowledge about the Arctic regions during this period and particularly the RGS-IBG’s fundamental role in this process.

The Society was instrumental in organising lectures, publishing journal articles, producing maps, communicating with newspaper journalists and liaising with literary publishers, all of which allowed its Fellows to exert a powerful influence over how the North was understood and imagined by the British public. Importantly, this process was not always an equal one and certain perspectives on the Arctic were given precedence at the expense of others. This has meant that some voices have since become hidden or obscured within dominant histories of the region.

In summary, the project has shown that the RGS was fundamental in establishing particular ways of thinking about the Arctic and that these ideas continue to have important implications for how the complex challenges facing the region today have been framed and approached.

Find out more

Follow Peter on Twitter @Peter_R_Martin. A printed copy of this thesis is available for consultation in the Foyle Reading Room (reference only). An electronic copy can be accessed through the University of Oxford's Research Archive. Peter has written a blog piece about his project at the AHRC blog.

You can watch a recording of a talk given by Peter about his research.

Watch Peter's talk

Key Resources

Correspondence Collections – Hand-written and type-written letters between key figures in the Society (Presidents, Secretaries etc.) and numerous international geographers/explorers. They contain everything from funding requests, expedition reports and scientific data, through to personal correspondence, requests for help in the field and even postcards.
Proceedings of The Royal Geographical Society/The Geographical Journal – The Society’s series of journals are a vital resource for understanding the historical development of Geography as well as how the RGS presented itself to its Fellows and to the public.
Council & Committee Minutes – Collections of the RGS Council and Committees Minutes. Useful for understanding key decisions made by the Society, e.g. top priorities, funding grants, medals awarded etc.
Library & Manuscript Collection – A vast collection of manuscript materials, published texts and research articles. The collection includes travel accounts, guidebooks, scientific reports, textbooks and other literary materials, many of which are unique to the RGS archive.
Artefact Collection – A wide range of possessions, relics and curiosities can be found in the Society’s collections. Highlight’s for this project include a gas stove used by Robert Peary during his 1909 expedition and the medals presented to the crew of Fridtjof Nansen’s 1893-96 Fram expedition.
Photograph & Lantern Slide Collection – A large collection of various images from across the world, often showing explorers carrying out surveys and other forms of geographical practices. The lantern slides were used to illustrate lectures, so are useful sources for understanding how geographical science was communicated and disseminated to the audiences at the Society. (For more info see Emily Hayes’ page)
Map Collection – The Society’s collection of over 1 million maps is a vital resource for any project using the collections. Many maps trace the routes taken by various explorers, and observing differences in the maps and changes over time can be a particularly useful way of understanding the evolving nature of exploration and geographical knowledge.

Initial Reading

Bravo, M. & Sörlin, S. (2002) Narrating the Arctic: A Cultural History of Nordic Scientific Practices, Science History Publications, Canton, MA
Craciun, A. (2016) Writing Arctic Disaster. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
David, R. G. (2000) The Arctic in the British Imagination 1818-1914, Manchester University Press, Manchester
Kaplan, S. A. & Peck, R. M. (2013) North by Degree: New Perspectives on Arctic Exploration American Philosophical Society, Lightning Rod Press, Philadelphia
Mikkelsen, E. (1909) Conquering the Arctic Ice, Heinemann, London
Mikkelsen, E. (1955) Mirage in the Arctic, Heinemann, London
Mill, H. R. (1930). The Record of the Royal Geographical Society, The Royal Geographical Society, London
Nansen, F. (1896) The First Crossing of Greenland, Longmans, Green, London
Nansen, F. (1898) Farthest North: The voyage of exploration of the Fram and the fifteen month’s expedition by Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen 1861-1930, Gibson Square, London
Peary, R. E. (1907) Nearest the Pole; a narrative of the Polar expedition of the Peary Arctic club in the S.S. Roosevelt, 1905-1906, Doubleday, Page & Company, New York
Peary, R. E. (1910) The North Pole: Its discovery in 1909 under the auspices of the Peary Arctic Club, Dover Publications, New York
Riffenburgh, B. (1994). The Myth of the Explorer: The Press, Sensationalism, and Geographical Discovery, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Robinson, M. F. The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Ryan, J. R. & Naylor, S. (2010). New Spaces of Exploration: Geographies of Discovery in the Twentieth Century, I.B. Tauris, London
Sörensen, J. [translated by Watkins, J. B. C.] (1932) The Saga of Fridtjof Nansen, George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London