Book ID: CBB695538374

Polaris: The Chief Scientist's Recollections of the American North Pole Expedition, 1871-73 (2016)

unapi

Bessels, Emil (Author)
Barr, William (Translator)


Barr, William
University of Calgary Press


Publication Date: 2016
Physical Details: 672
Language: English

Emil Bessels was chief scientist and medical officer on George Francis Hall's ill-fated American North Pole Expedition of 1871-73 on board the ship Polaris. Bessels' book, translated from the German in its entirety for the first time, is one of only two first-hand accounts of the voyage, and it is the only first-hand account of the experiences of the group which stayed with the ship after it ran afoul of arctic ice, leaving some of its crew stranded on an ice floe. Bessels and the others spent a second winter on shore in Northwest Greenland, where the drifting, disabled ship ran aground. Hall died suspiciously during the first winter, and Bessels is widely suspected of having poisoned him. Bill Barr has uncovered new evidence of a possible motive. Polaris includes considerable detail which does not appear elsewhere. It is the only account of the expedition which includes rich scientific information about anthropology, geology, flora and fauna. It provides much more information than other accounts on the Greenland settlements Polaris visited on her way north. Bessels' is the only published first-hand account of the second wintering of part of the ship's complement on shore at Polaris House, near Littleton Island, and of that party's attempt at travelling south by boat until picked up by the Scottish whaler Ravenscraig. The same applies to the cruise aboard the whaler, Arctic, after Bessels and his companions transferred to that ship. Essential reading for researchers and students of arctic exploration history, this book is also a compelling read for the interested general reader.

...More
Reviewed By

Review Martin P. M. Weiss (2020) Review of "Polaris: The Chief Scientist's Recollections of the American North Pole Expedition, 1871-73". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 193-194). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB695538374/

Similar Citations

Article Guly, Henry; (2012)
Dr. Reginald Koettlitz (1860--1916): Arctic and Antarctic Explorer (/isis/citation/CBB001200783/)

Article Guly, H. R.; (2013)
Scurvy and Other Vitamin Deficiencies during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration (/isis/citation/CBB001200831/)

Article Krzysztof Ludwik Birkenmajer; (2017)
Polskie badania polarne (zarys) / Polish Polar Research (Outline) (/isis/citation/CBB963951811/)

Article Marthe Fjellestad; (2022)
Photography in the Arctic Archipelago during the First International Polar Year, 1882–1883 (/isis/citation/CBB131981398/)

Thesis Stuhl, Andrew; (2013)
Empires on Ice: Science, Nature, and the Making of the Arctic (/isis/citation/CBB001567488/)

Article Doel, Ronald E.; Friedman, Robert Marc; Lajus, Julia; Sörline, Sverker; Wråkberg, Urban; (2014)
Strategic Arctic Science: National Interests in Building Natural Knowledge---Interwar Era through the Cold War (/isis/citation/CBB001450344/)

Book Fryxell, Fritiof; Anderson, Richard C.; Salstrom, Phil; Salstrom, Paul; (2010)
Ferdinand Hayden: A Young Scientist in the Great West, 1853--1855 (/isis/citation/CBB001251899/)

Book Glover, Denise M.; Harrell, Stevan; McKhann, Charles F.; Swain, Margaret Byrne; (2011)
Explorers and Scientists in China's Borderlands, 1880--1950 (/isis/citation/CBB001214669/)

Book Maximilian of Wied, ; Witte, Stephen S.; Gallagher, Marsha V.; (2008)
The North American Journals of Maximilian of Wied (/isis/citation/CBB001023203/)

Authors & Contributors
Marthe Fjellestad
Halley, Matthew R.
Birkenmajer, Krzysztof Ludwik
Swain, Margaret Byrne
Kontler, László
Zeller, Suzanne E.
Concepts
Travel; exploration
Scientific expeditions
Geology
Botany
Observation
Sea travel
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
18th century
21st century
Places
Arctic regions
United States
Canada
Greenland
Great Britain
Antarctica
Institutions
International Polar Year (1882-1883)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment