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The European Antarctic Science and Strategy in Scandinavia and the British Empire Peder Roberts
THE EUROPEAN ANTARCTIC Copyright Peder Roberts, 2011. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-11591-0 All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29705-4 DOI 10.1057/9780230337909 ISBN 978-0-230-33790-9 (ebook) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Roberts, Peder. The European Antarctic: science and strategy in Scandinavia and the British Empire / Peder Roberts. p. cm. (Palgrave studies in cultural and intellectual history) 1. Scientific expeditions Antarctica History 20th century. 2. Antarctica Discovery and exploration British. 3. Antarctica Discovery and exploration Norwegian. 4. Antarctica Discovery and exploration Swedish. I. Title. G870.R594 2011 919.8 9 dc23 2011023660 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2011
Contents List of Maps Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations and Acronyms vii ix xvii Introduction 1 1 Science, Commerce, and the State 11 2 Imperial Science in the Antarctic 31 3 The Union of Hunting and Research 53 4 Ivory Towers and Icy Frontiers 77 5 The (Re)invention of a Swedish Tradition 97 6 A Successful Failure 117 7 The Cold War Comes to the Coldest Continent 141 Epilogue: A Continent for Performing Science 157 Notes 163 References and Works Consulted 229 Bibliography 235 Index 255 v
Maps 1. The Falkland Islands Dependencies. xiii 2. The North Atlantic region. xiv 3. The Antarctic region at the time of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. Maps by Red Geographics, made with Natural Earth. xv vii
Acknowledgments The roots of this book lie in my MA thesis in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of New South Wales. There I was fortunate to meet Nick Rasmussen, who nurtured both my project and my excitement about entering academia (a decision I have not had cause to regret). I am grateful to Nick and to John Schuster, Head of School at the time, who went significantly out of their way to procure a substantial discretionary grant from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences that enabled me to study full time. The journey continued in the Department of History at Stanford, where I was equally fortunate to cross paths with Robert Proctor, who encouraged me to ask interesting questions and follow quirky leads rather than to worry about being earnestly dull. Robert cheerfully engaged with ideas far beyond his own (many) fields of expertise, and I will always have fond memories of discussions over tea ranging from the genetic code of mastodons to imagery in tobacco advertising, with every conceivable stop in between. I am immensely grateful also to the many colleagues, friends, and teachers who stimulated me to think in different directions, particularly Lydia Barnett, Simon Ertz, Paula Findlen, Josh Howe, Peter Mann, Bradley Naranch, Brianna Rego, Sarah Richardson, Priya Satia, Londa Schiebinger, James J. Sheehan, and Derek Vanderpool. I owe a particular debt to Peter Stansky, whose infectious enthusiasm for both the social and intellectual aspects of academic life I can only hope to replicate. The process of researching and writing this book was particularly nomadic, even by the standards of the profession, and I have accumulated an immense number of debts along the way. On the financial side, I thank the National Science Foundation (Science and Society Dissertation Improvement Grant #0723935), the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences, the generous anonymous donor to British Studies at Stanford, and the Mellon Foundation through the Stanford Humanities Center. My initial research in Stockholm was supported by a Visiting Research Scholarship from the Center for the History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Thanks to the kindness of the Center s director, Karl Grandin, I was provided with everything a traveling ix
x Acknowledgments scholar could desire an office, housing, and access to wonderful colleagues. I was fortunate enough to begin writing during an idyllic summer in Stockholm by the Academy s garden. The path from dissertation to book began during a post-doctoral fellowship at the Division of History of Science and Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, as part of the Arctic Norden project. Sverker Sörlin, Thomas Kaiserfeld, Nina Wormbs, and Helena Törnkvist brought me into their thriving community, generously providing everything from travel funding and intellectual support to assistance in navigating the Stockholm housing market. The final writing took place at the University of Strasbourg during my employment by the European Research Council project The Earth Under Surveillance, where principal investigator Simone Turchetti generously allowed me to prioritize the book manuscript. There I was fortunate also to have the officemate from heaven in Nestor Hérran, without whose assistance the French bureaucracy might have proven lethal. The book would never have happened without the unstinting kindness of Sue Marchand, who encouraged me to submit the proposal and then commented generously on the manuscript once the process was under way. Sincere thanks also to Chris Chappell and Sarah Whalen at Palgrave Macmillan, and to three anonymous reviewers who commented upon the draft. I have benefited from the generosity of many people along the way. Börje and Kirsten Andersson, Daniel Halliday, David and Trish Halliday, Cæcilie Hougaard Pedersen, Mary Jones, Noah Millstone, Thomas Pedersen and Putte Hougaard Madsen, Kristin Primus, Johan Schimanski and Ulrike Spring, Victoria Thickett, and Kathryn Ward Ciancia and Drew Ciancia opened their homes to me for extended periods. Robert Marc Friedman has been everything I could wish for in a senior colleague: a constant source of guidance and reassurance on everything from polar history to immigration regulations. Klaus Dodds welcomed me into the Department of Geography at Royal Holloway (University of London) in the fall of 2008, introducing me to the cutting edge of scholarship in critical geopolitics and remaining unfailingly generous with his time and wisdom. Sverker Sörlin brought me into his research group at the Royal Institute of Technology and happily shared his vast knowledge of polar history in Sweden and beyond. Harald Dag Jølle helped make Tromsø a second home, assisting with accommodation and invaluable contacts (particularly in the History of Norwegian Polar Politics research group), while tolerating my offensively poor attempts at cross-country skiing. I am grateful to colleagues who commented on aspects of this project
Acknowledgments xi in Cambridge (MA and UK), Columbus, Copenhagen, Egham, Friday Harbor, the Lofoten Islands, Manchester, Oslo, Phoenix, Sydney, Stockholm, Tacoma, Tromsø, Trondheim, Vancouver, Washington, DC, and Århus. Last but certainly not least, the SCAR History Action Group led by Cornelia Lüdecke provided a welcoming and uniquely stimulating environment to develop my ideas. Rip Bulkeley in particular was very generous in sharing his time and (prodigious) knowledge. One of the greatest pleasures of the research process has been spending time with archivists and librarians. Numerous insights and discoveries came over chats and coffee with wonderful people around the world, many of whom went far beyond their professional obligations to assist me. In Sydney, I thank Stephen Martin and the staff at the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. In Adelaide, I thank Mark Pharaoh at the Mawson Antarctic Centre, South Australian Museum. In Cambridge, I thank Naomi Boneham and Lucy Martin at the Scott Polar Research Institute. In Oxford, I thank Colin Harris and the staff at the Bodleian Library Special Collections; and Lucy McCann at the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House. In Plymouth, I thank Linda Noble at the National Marine Biological Library. In Southampton, I thank Adrian Burkett at the National Oceanographic Library, National Oceanographic Centre. In London, I thank Sarah Strong and the staff at the Royal Geographical Society Archives; James Hatton and the staff at the Natural History Museum Archives; Joanna Corden at the Royal Society Archives; and the marvelously professional staff at The National Archives in Kew. In Oslo, I thank Martina Gaux, Anne Melgård, Signe Nyhuus-Eriksen, and the staff at the Manuscripts section of the National Library. In Sandefjord, I thank Jan Erik Ringstad at Chr. Christensen s Whaling Museum; and Michael Peters at the Whaling Collection, Sandefjord Municipal Library. In Tromsø, I thank Svein-Olaf Nilssen and the staff at the State Archive in Tromsø; and Ann Kristin Balto and Fred Inge Presteng at the Norwegian Polar Institute. In Gothenburg, I thank Anders Larsson at the Gothenburg University Library Special Collections. And in Stockholm, I thank the wonderful Maria Asp, Åse Frid, and Anne Miche de Malleray at the Center for the History of Science, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Lance van Sittert and Lizé- Marie van der Watt kindly arranged access for me to South Africa s recently digitized government records related to the Antarctic, a treasure trove whose surface I have barely skimmed.
xii Acknowledgments Finally, I thank those close to me, who remained near during the long and winding road. My parents, William and Lise Roberts, raised me in a house full of books and were cheerfully accepting when I headed off on the uncertain adventure of history. None of this would have happened without my mother taking the time and effort to raise me bilingually, despite being so far from Denmark. Above all, Ilona Denes has put up with my extended absences (physical and mental) and reminded me that even for inveterate voyagers, there is no place like home.
1. The Falkland Islands Dependencies.
2. The North Atlantic region.
3. The Antarctic region at the time of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. Maps by Red Geographics, made with Natural Earth.
Abbreviations and Acronyms AINA BGLE BIAE CRC CSAGI CTAE DSIR FID FIDS ICES ICSU IGY IPC IUGG KVA NATO NBSX NGS NIO NSIU RGS SPRI SSAG Arctic Institute of North America British Graham Land Expedition British Imperial Antarctic Expedition Colonial Research Council Comité Spécial de l Année Géophysique Internationale Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Falkland Islands Dependencies Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey International Council for the Exploration of the Sea International Council of Scientific Unions International Geophysical Year Commission Polaire Internationale International Union for Geodesy and Geophysics Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences North Atlantic Treaty Organization Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition Norwegian Geographical Society National Institute of Oceanography Norges Svalbards- og Ishavsundersøkelser Royal Geographical Society Scott Polar Research Institute Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography xvii