Geographers Biobibliographical Studies Volume 17 9781474226721, 9781474226707

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GEOGRAPHERS Biobibliographical Studies VOLUME 17

GEOGRAPHERS BIOBIBLIOGRAPHICAL STUDIES This volume forms part of the series Studies in the History of Geography planned by the Commission on the History of Geographical Thought of the International Geographical Union and the Commission of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. Chairman: Professor Anne Buttimer, Department of Geography, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Secretary: Professor Vincent Berdoulay, Département de Géographie Université du Pau, rue du Doyen Poplawski, 64000 Pau, France. Other Full Members: Dr Ahmed Bencheikh, Département de Géographie, Université Cadi Ayyad, B.P.S. 17, Quartier Amerchich, Marrakech, Morocco; Professor Antonio Christofoletti, Departamento de Cartografia, o Analise de Informaçāo Geografica, Instituto de Geociencias, C.P. 178,13500 Rio Claro, Brazil; Professor Johannes A. van Ginkel, Fakultiet der Ruimtelijke Wetenskappen, Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 8, P.B. 80125, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands; Dr David N. Livingstone, School of Geosciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 INN, Northern Ireland; Professor Geoffrey J. Martin, also Editor. Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies, Department of Geography, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515, USA; Professor Joseph M. Powell, Department of Geography, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia; Professor Keiichi Takeuchi, Department of Geography, Komazawa University, Setagayaku, Tokyo 154, Japan; Dr Ute Wardenga, Institut für Geographie, Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat, Robert-Koch-Strasse 26, D-4400 Munster, Germany; Dr Hong-Key Yoon, Department of Geography, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Honorary Members: Professor Manfred Büttner, Kieifernweg 40, D-4630 Bochum, Germany; Professor David Hooson, Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, CA 90047, USA; Professor Philippe Pinchemel, Centre de Géohistoire, 7 rue Malher, 75007 Paris, France; Professor Oskar H.K. Spate, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, GPO Box 4 Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

GEOGRAPHERS Biobibliographical Studies VOLUME 17

Edited by Geoffrey J. Martin and Patrick H. Armstrong on behalf of the Working Group on the History of Geographical Thought of the International Geographical Union and the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science

Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

LON DON • OX F O R D • N E W YO R K • N E W D E L H I • SY DN EY

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www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in 1997 by Mansell Publishing Limited © International Geographical Union, 1997 Geoffrey J. Martin and Patrick H. Armstrong have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editors of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: Hardback: 978-0-7201-2285-5 ePDF: 978-1-4742-2670-7 ePub: 978-1-4742-2671-4  

Geographers: biobibliographical studies. Vol. 17 1. Geographers – Biography – Periodicals 910’92’2 G67 Series: Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies, volume 17

Contents

Introduction

Geoffrey J. Martin and Patrick

vii

Armstrong List of Abbreviations

xi

Al-Kindi 801-873

Akhtar Siddiqi

1

Thomas George Bonney 1833-1923

Patrick Armstrong

9

William Speirs Bruce 1867-1921

Peter Speak

17

1844-1935

C.I.Jackson

26

Wilfrid George Kendrew 1884-1962

C. Gordon Smith

43

1813-1848

William Cooper and Glen McLaren

52

Peter Simon Pallas 1741-1811

Colin Thomas

68

Sir Robert Sibbald 1641-1722

Charles W.J. Withers

82

Jaume Vicens Vives 1910-1960

Anna Fabre and Jose Luis Villanova

92

James Wreford Watson 1915-1990

Guy M. Robinson

Adolphus Washington Greely

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt

Index

106 117

Introduction

With this volume we approach the publication of a total of 250 biobibliographies. Each essay bespeaks an individuality from which we may learn much about the individual and his or her contribution. Yet the sum total of these parts yields something larger. This larger whole includes matters such as the evolution of a subject, the formation of discipline, the development of national viewpoints, and the global accomplishment of our field; in short, an agenda for the genre referred to as the history of geographical thought. Not surprisingly some who have specialized in this study have been made the subject of biobibliographies already published (e.g. Louis Vivien de Saint-Martin, Robert E. Dickinson, Ernst Plewe). And so there are extant some ready-made compilations and perspectives. This volume of Geographers presents ten biobibliographies, which span some 1200 years. One study is taken from the ninth century, a second from the seventeenth century and a third from the eighteenth century. Four studies derive from the nineteenth century and only three subjects spent most of their lives in the twentieth century. Al-Kindi was of the Muslim world of the ninth century. He was born in Southern Iraq, educated in Baghdad, to become one of the early writers on geographical themes. He wrote some 240 essays including 'Description of the Inhabited Parts of die Earth'. He also wrote particularly on geodesy, and weatiier and climate. Of particular interest to historians of thought is his study of Greek philosophy, and a sufficient liking for Ptolemy to have his geography translated. Eight hundred years later, Robert Sibbald, appointed Geographer Royal, Knighted by Charles II, viewed geography as a compage of natural and political survey. He accumulated a large knowledge of his Scottish homeland and was apparently the first of our guild to adopt the metiiod of the circulated questionnaire. He was anxious to complete an adas of Scodand but did not succeed in this. However, he left manuscripts and a number of publications relating to the chorography of Scotland. Like Al-Kindi he knew the work of Ptolemy and otiier

viii

Introduction

Greek thinkers; he had the added advantage of knowing the work of Varenius and Cluverius. In consequence, he was one of the earlier geographers to distinguish between 'general' and 'special' geographies and particulars of place in 'special' geography. As Charles Withers reminds us: His significance rests in the conduct of his work, his social network and in the royal patronage given to his inductive empiricism at a period marked by the promotion of the natural sciences and in claims to natural knowledge as useful. Colin Thomas provides a biobibliography of the third of the pre-nineteenthcentury figures. Peter S. Pallas was born and raised in Germany and educated in the universalist tradition of western Europe. In 1767 he travelled to St Petersburg, then remained in Russia for some 40 years. His remarkable exploration, study of results and careful publications on a variety of subjects including natural history and, more particularly, botany, zoology and comparative language, have given him a prominent place in the emergence of natural science in early modern Russia. The four nineteeth-century-born figures treated in this publication (Leichhardt, Bonney, Greely and Bruce), all fall into that category known as explorer. Exploration was then an essential and integral part of the geographical undertaking. The individual pitting himself (and sometimes herself) against the hazards and extremes of the physical environment has been replaced in the latter reaches of the twentieth century by a more remote sensing of the environment. Nevertheless, in its time the rugged daring-do of the intrepid explorer provided a saga to thrill the masses and inspire the poet. That same daring-do filled in the blank spaces on the map, rendered more accurate data already gathered, facilitated the building of empires, led to the diffusion of knowledge and helped geography win for itself a place in the curriculum. Leichhardt, born in Germany, undertook study with perhaps a special interest in medicine and natural history. He left Europe in 1841 under sail for 20 weeks, bound for Australia. His pioneering travels across a land so large and so little known were epic, though discounted. He died, it seems, in 1848, in the same year as the European revolutions and at a time when colonialism had not yet become a driving force. However, in collecting specimens, making maps, publishing, such as Journal of An Overland Expedition, and demonstrating that he was accomplished in his undertaking notwithstanding the hardships of the bush, he may have accomplished what no other did before or since. Bonney, born only 20 years after Leichhardt, offers a very different life-path. Raised in Staffordshire, educated at Cambridge, ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1858, he returned to the University of Cambridge in 1861 where he offered work in geology until 1877. He was then appointed to a chair at University College, London. Some outstanding publications in natural science married well with his theological interests (he was made Canon of Manchester Cathedral in 1887). He displayed his authority on both ice and Archaean rocks and it was the life of a gifted parson-naturalist who found no disconsonance between the geology he loved and the religion he professed. Prior to his death in 1923 he published The Present Relations of Science and Religion (1913) and Memoirs of a Long Life (1921). He was a distinguished Alpine climber and was entirely happy to use the term 'physical geography'. Greely and Bruce shared a strong interest in polar exploration. Bruce was a keen naturalist with a good eye for ice, who contributed some fine work accumu-

Introduction

ix

lating literature on the ends of the earth. His considerable published work, including Polar Exploration (1911), seems not to have been read and appreciated as widely as might have been. Greeley, describing himself as audior, electrician, explorer and soldier, also experienced the challenge of polar ice in commanding the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881-4). He also accomplished some remarkable work with the telegraph system, and as a military figure earned attention for his control of San Francisco in 1906 pursuant to the earthquake. Founding member of both the Natural Geographic Society and Cosmos Club, he even taught geography at the Columbian College. Collectively these four (essentially) nineteenth-century figures remain less well known to us than might be expected. In the twentieth century, with the enlargement of the university, there comes the phenomena of (advanced) students forming a disciple coterie and proclaiming the worth and capacity of the selected one (mentor). By adding to the work of the leader, the group advances its cause and standing and the leader's work becomes ever better known. And, too, in teaching a course or offering a seminar, the leader may produce a book (and sometimes, though rarely, an article) which then becomes required reading. In this way twentieth-century university persons become better known than odierwise would be the case. And they are frequendy within the span of living memory, which also enlarges them in our perception. Kendrew is surely known to most geographers (and climatologists and meteorologists) for his book The Climates of the Continents, first published in 1922 and revised in 1927,1937,1953 and 1961. It is a book that has been studied by students and read with interest by unknown thousands over the decades. The same might be said for Climate: A Treatise on the Principles of Weather and Climate, published in 1930 and revised in 1938, then very much revised and republished as Climatology - Treated mainly in relation to distribution in time and place (1949 and 1957). The remainder of his work in air-physics is much less well known, but doubdess of larger significance to the emerging science of meteorology and climatology. Unlike Kendrew, who specialized in his learning, Vicens Vives painted on a larger canvas. He was an historian, especially interested in Spanish and Catalan historiography, who included the geographical dimension in a vigorous manner. Unusually he made studies in political geography and geopolitics in the 1940s and 1950s, at a time when diis was very unpopular. Eventually he was appointed Professor of Modern History at Barcelona University, and in 1954 he was appointed to a professorship of Spanish Economic History at the same university. His work became widely known and respected; for the geographic community he was an historian functioning as ambassador to die discipline. His life was cut short unexpectedly and deprived us of what might have been a large and meaningful synthesis. The third of our twentieth-century figures, J.W. Watson, was born in China. He was a Scot who virtually adopted Canada as his second home. It was probably his book, North America (1963, 2nd edition 1968), that did so much to bring his writing to tiiose who did not yet know his work. He published frequently and left a bibliographic trail behind that enriched the literature. Fond of poetry, as he was of landscape, he published four books of poetry that are evocative of the region. And so we have added ten geographic studies to this ongoing collection which, in die long run, will facilitate the larger contribution. Geoffrey J. Martin and Patrick Armstrong

List of Abbreviations

F.R.S.

Fellow of the Royal Society

Geol. Soc.

Geological Society

L.F.B.E.

Lady Franklin Bay Expedition

Proc. R. Soc.

Proceedings of the Royal Society

QJ.G.S.

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society

R.C.P.E.

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

R.S.G.S.

Royal Scottish Geographical Society

Scot. Geogr. Mag.

Scottish Geographical Magazine

Al-Kindi 801-873

Akhtar Siddiqi

In the ninth century, Muslim scholars and men of science were entering the period which marked the beginning of the Muslim renaissance. Enthusiastic and original Muslim scientists accomplished much in mathematical, astronomical, geographic and physical sciences. Al-Khwarizmi, al-Farghani and al-Kindi were the leading scientists of the century. Al-Mamun, the Caliph, ordered geodetic measurements to determine the size of the earth which would also facilitate the construction of a large and accurate map of the world. Al-Khwarizmi wrote a geographical treatise, entitled 'The Face of the Earth', which was a revised version of Ptolemy's geography. Scientific writing on minerals was the earliest work of its kind produced in Arabic. Al-Kindi was the only philosopher and scientist of Arab origin; others were either Persian or from farther east.

1. Education, Life and Work Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn al-Sabah al-Kindi (Alkindus in Latin) was born in Kufa, southern Iraq, in AD 801. His father was the governor of the city and he was from an aristocratic Arab family of the tribe Kindah. Probably, al-Kindi became interested in learning at Kufa and, motivated by a desire for more knowledge, he first moved to Basra. In his early life, he lived and studied there, where his ancestors owned a large estate, and received the best possible education in grammar and theology. During the reign of al-Mamun (813-33) he moved to Baghdad to continue his studies. At that time, Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasids and was one of the greatest cultural centres in the civilized world. After completing his studies, alKindi pursued his intellectual activities, which soon brought him the favour of serving Caliph al-Mutasim (833-42) as a court astronomer. In 837, he excelled in

2

Al-Kindi

his astronomical observations, which brought him special distinction. He was also appointed as a tutor of al-Mutasim's son Ahmad. The friendly relationship with the Abbasid palace did not last very long after the death of Caliph al-Wathiq in 847. The reign of al-Mutawakkil (847-61) was dominated by people of orthodox religious views, including the Caliph himself. Al-Mutawakkil was opposed to Mutazalite doctrines. In his period, some scholars openly opposed free drinking and original scientific contributions based on observation of natural phenomena and the utilization of philosophy and sciences of die classical period. Al-Kindi, however, supported certain doctrines of die classical period, and his admiration of Greek philosophy was opposed by die Caliph and other orthodox groups. Al-Kindi was oppressed; his books were confiscated and he fell from favour. Abu Masharjafar ibn al-Balkhi was one of his opponents. In an attempt to win over Abu Mashar, al-Kindi tactfully sent a mutual friend to him, who enticed him to study al-Kindi's work on mathematics and astronomy. The ploy worked and Abu Mashar did not bother al-Kindi any more, who was now acting as a physician. He was a devout Muslim but was a man of universal interest in the natural sciences, medicine and music, as well as in theology. After 861, al-Kindi regained his library and some of his prestige widi die court. After a few years of enjoying his liberty, he died in 873. Litde is known about the last days of his life. In scientific circles, al-Kindi was great even in his own lifetime. As an author he was prolific. His writings included many branches of human knowledge but his primary contributions are in die realm of philosophy and logic; he considered mathematics as the basis of all science. He soon mastered philosophy and die sciences and integrated them into Islamic thinking (Nasr, 1964, p. 10). He studied the various branches of Greek, Persian and Indian philosophies and sciences. His writings on music are the earliest of their kind in Arabic (Sarton, 1948, p. 546). Al-Kindi's scientific works established him as a scientist and include many treatises on optical problems, astronomy, geography and history. His interest in geography was so great that die geography of Ptolemy was specifically translated for him. In fact, he was one of the best known Muslim figures, especially in astronomy and matiiematics in which he was highly respected as an authority. Cardanus in 1554 ranked al-Kindi as one of the 12 most influential and important intellectual figures of human history (Nasr, 1964, p. 11).

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought Al-Nadim (987) recorded that al-Kindi wrote 242 treatises. It is his scientific works that are by far the most numerous of his writings. His geographical work entided Description of the Inhabited Parts of the Earth was one of the earliest works on universal geography (Hasan, 1987, p. 639). In it, he discussed the distances of routes in different regions of the earth, as well as habitations and inhabited quarters. He was die first of the great Muslim thinkers whose scientific works shaped the trend of die medieval Islamic renaissance. Some of his treatises on geodesy played a role in die design and construction of aqueducts, bridges and engines (Atiyeh, 1983, p. 3). He learned to determine specific gravity through hydrostatic balance (Hasan, 1987, p. 661).

Al-Kindi

3

Al-Kindi's scheme of the universe was based on die Aristotelian scheme, which portrayed a series of concentric spheres arranged around the earth as a central body (Atiyeh, 1983, p. 69). Like Aristotle, he believed that heavenly bodies were endowed with life and reason. He thought that the sun was the most important heavenly body, causing generation and corruption, and was of the opinion that the moon was a great helper to the sun and was responsible for the formation of clouds and rain, and brought changes in temperature in all die four seasons. Apart from the sun and moon, the rest of the heavenly bodies influenced the sublunar world, depending on their distances from earth. He calculated the distance between the centre of the moon and the earth and believed in the sphericity of the earth, arguing that since the body revolved around its centre, it must be spherical. The sphere was the largest of bodily forms and the circle die greatest of all plane shapes. He also wrote that the surface of die water of die sea was spherical, calculating the azimudi on a sphere (Dodge, 1970, p. 617). In the opinion of al-Kindi, the heavenly bodies influenced national character. He believed that people who lived south of the equator were black with curly and coarse hair, heavy lips, flat noses and excitable natures. Those near die poles possessed characteristics and features diametrically opposed to people living close to die equator: they were delicate and warm hearted. Those in the temperate zones had keen senses and tended toward a contemplative life (Rida, pt. II, 1953, p. 226). These ideas originally were borrowed from Aristode and repeated by Ptolemy. Greek ideas on physical geography were incorporated into his work and were further enriched with some of al-Kindi's own ideas and observations. He attempted an explanation of the causes of earthquakes and volcanoes, and wrote about die causes of the formation of clouds, snow, lightning, sleet and thunder, the causes of die coolness of the upper layers of the atmosphere and the warmdi of the lower layers, and the cause of tides. His treatises, abridged versions of which are given below, contain some subde observations on meteorological phenomena. ON HABITATION AS SEEN FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE GLOBE On writing a commentary on inhabited parts of the earth for his son, al-Kindi said: We need to observe the movement of the sun and other planets to realize their influences upon earthly phenomena. The sun, in particular, is the most active in relation to die earth, and influences earthly phenomena to die highest degree to determine die distribution of prosperity and fertility. Thus some regions, such as arctic and antarctic circles and adjacent territories, and the equatorial regions are found to be sparsely populated and barren on account of excessive cold or heat, whereas intermediary regions being at optimum distance from die sun are more dense and fertile. It is by virtue of fluctuations of die distance of the sun from these regions and variations in the lengtii of day and night and die succession of seasons which cause die intermittent changes, resulting in generation and corruption. (Rida, pt. I, 1953, p. 221) CAUSES OF TIDES Al-Kindi defined tides as the natural increase of water and divided them into seasonal, monthly and daily tides, giving the causes of flow and ebb. He believed

4

Al-Kindi

that natural tides occur as a result of heating, and this heat of the earth, water and air occurs as a result of continuous movement of stars and planets. He also believed that the moon is connected with water and the earth. It was his belief that when the sun is in a vertical position in the northern hemisphere and the wind blows to the south sea, water also moves to the south in high levels; this is called seasonal flow. The size of water shrinks in the north because of this movement to the south, and in the north it produces a seasonal ebb. When the sun moves to the southern hemisphere, winds blow from the south toward the north, and the seawater moves to the north in a high level, producing seasonal tides in the north; because of shrinkage, it produces seasonal ebbs in the south. Seasonal tides occur during a limited period of the year in certain places as a result of the movement of die remote planets. Another of his beliefs was that if some planets coincide with the sun eitiier in the north or in the south, atmospheric temperatures become very hot, die winds blow strongly and the seasonal tides' flows and ebbs strengthen and widen. Tidal flows and ebbs occur every month, and their velocity depends upon die movement of die sun; if the sun is in a vertical position in either the northern or southern hemisphere it heats die air and the seawater rises high. The daily flow and ebb occur mainly because of die influence of the moon. Tides cannot occur by the movement of the moon alone, however, although other planets play a role in creating flow and ebb (Rida, pt. II, 1953, no. 25). In short, al-Kindi believed that die flow and ebb of die ocean depends on die courses of die winds. He recognized die connecdon between tides and die sun and moon, but he did not understand the exact implications clearly. From his writing the causes of the tides are difficult to explain; however, he did have an elementary knowledge of them. WEATHER PHENOMENA Al-Kindi indicated that heat, cold, humidity or dryness is caused when different planets are aligned witii the sun. When the sun enters the zodiac, the location of Saturn and Jupiter are die indicators of time and year respectively. If Saturn and Jupiter are in a hot zodiac sign, the quarter will be hot, and vice versa. By die same argument, if die zodiac signs are humid, die quarter will be humid; if they are dry, it will be dry. Any deviation from these positions varies the results. If one of the zodiac signs is a hot one and die other cold, the quarter will dien be moderate. The situation will be similar with respect to humidity and dryness; if die zodiac signs are airy and watery, the quarter will be moderate. According to al-Kindi, the alignment of Mercury widi Jupiter causes humidity and wind. Conjunction between Mars and Jupiter evokes humidity widi diunder and lightning; alignment widi the moon and Saturn evolves humidity widi coolness and snow or light rain. If the moon is aligned with Venus and Jupiter, rain will fall. When tiiese planets come together in Aquarius, humidity occurs. If the sun is at one state of die constellation, the time changes from summer to spring or winter to autumn. If there is moon instead of sun, humidity occurs. Saturn acts in die same way as Mars in the cold weatiier. The harmony between the planets, their separation and the effects on weatiier conditions are die same (Miscony, 1965). Al-Kindi described the condition of die atmosphere at some specific time and area, connecting it widi the various movements of planets and weatiier conditions that accompany die planetary alignments. He tried to explain these tilings scientifically and logically and believed that knowledge of madiematics was

Al-Kindi

5

essential to understand this process. The distinctive features of temperature and humidity, and the condition of the air at upper and lower levels, offer much information that can be useful to geographers in attempting to understand die historic process of the study of weather and meteorological conditions. TEMPERA TURE DIFFERENCE IN AIR Al-Kindi indicated that the height of air in the atmosphere affects its temperature. Vapour freezes at higher elevations and clouds form. Heat and cold influence the dry ground faster than liquid objects; in fact, liquid objects are bad at transmitting heat, whereas hard objects are the opposite. The heat on earth is a result of the sun heating the ground. When the temperature rises, evaporation takes place in the form of smoke and smoke rises faster in dry air. The quantity of water in the air and the temperature decide the speed of rising air. If the air is humid, it rises slowly, whereas it rises faster when it is dry. Air mingled with vapour becomes colder and thicker at high altitude. Humid air becomes cold and thick and gets ready to fall down. This cycle of die air interprets the fall of rain, hail and snow. Clouds can be high or low. Naturally the temperature of the ground and the geographical features of the land decide the formation and height of clouds. It is alleged diat mountains help in the formation of clouds. On the other hand, vapour in the desert scatters and diffuses. In the mountains, wind, rain, snow, thunder and lightning may be experienced, whereas in the desert such conditions rarely occur. Al-Kindi thought it interesting to note that rain may fall on one part of the mountain while other parts may remain dry (he was probably describing the rain shadow). This phenomenon depends on the position of the raining clouds (Rida, pt. II, 1953, no. 23). FOG In his short treatise on fog, al-Kindi wrote that fog is moisture suspended in air. In the lower part of the atmosphere, fog remains stable before being transformed into water. If fog is heavy, air near the earth normally dissipated it with the heat near the ground. When driven by wind, the fog is dissipated and transformed into dew (Rida, pt. II, 1953, no. 21). RAINFALL Al-Kindi indicated that rain occurs when planetary bodies in their orbits are tilted into two opposite directions, either north or south, and the sun drifts in the zodiac and the planets rotate from west to east in their respective tracks. The sun rotates to heat the bodies which causes a stream of vapour to move in various directions, mingling in the winds and reaching different places of varied heights and slopes with variable temperatures. When water vapour is away from the zenith of the sun, it cools and starts condensing to fall in a form of rain. If the water vapour is loaded, winds reach the places where there are no obstacles to check them and the water vapour cools down. The heat of the sun removes clouds to mountainous areas, where they condense as rain. Rain does not fall on the way to the mountains, as is the case in Egypt. In an area lacking high mountains, enormous amounts of water vapour run from south to north. The air stream with water vapour runs from south to north and also blows from Bahr alHabashe towards Iraq. The flow of such streams goes to die nordiern countries

6

Al-Kindi

with hot climates, due to lack of interceptors and neighbouring seas. When these winds reach areas where there are mountains, the water vapour rises and starts cooling, and it condenses into rain and snow in the northern areas, depending on their temperature conditions (Rida, 1953, no. 20). Al-Kindi briefly tried to argue that condensation and precipitation occur because of the ascent of air laden with water vapour; this ascent is the cause of relief rainfall, particularly on a high range of hills. But he did not explain die mechanism clearly. In his mind, Egypt and Iraq and surrounding areas were convenient examples to explain the distribution of rain. SNOW, HAIL, LIGHTNING AND THUNDER Al-Kindi, explaining the causes of snow, hail, lightning and thunder, wrote that snow is formed when water vapour condenses at temperatures below the freezing point, turning the vapour into solid and minute particles of ice. The ice particles are consolidated, and where the lower atmosphere is cool they will reach the ground. For snow to fall, there must be plentiful vapour in the atmosphere and a sufficiently low temperature. Hailstones are frozen water caused by intense cold and the transformation of the parts which are in the steam (vapour) from the ground. The steam moves in the direction in which it is compelled by temperature conditions, and the drops are carried upward to a point at which they freeze into ice. The insides of the clouds are corrugated. When there is a powerful wind and clouds are voluminous, the conditions become stormy. Wind flows towards the ground, penetrating the clouds, which dien collide with each other; they break and their contents start melting in the air, which is relatively warmer than the places in which they freeze. This icy material dissolves before it has reached the ground. Since these materials are abundant they reach the ground in abundance. Most hailstones fall in the spring and autumn, when the sun approaches the zenith and the weather gets warm. The storm releases all the clouds quickly; strong wind passes through the clouds due to the speedy movement of heat and flames. These flames transform the flowing air, which is a storm passing through clouds that are near the earth. It is called lightning. If the change is intense and the size is voluminous, it reaches the ground with speed; then it is called a thunderbolt. As for the audible sound after the lightning and thunderbolt, it is the sound of the clouds' combustion. It starts before the occurrence of the lightning, and the tangible thunderbolts are the outward inflammation of the combusting clouds, but the lightning and the thunderbolts are seen before the sound is heard (Rida, 1953, no. 22). Al-Kindi intends to say that rain, snow and hailstones are the condensation of the upgoing steam in the atmosphere and cold temperature variations. Lightning in the clouds is combustion due to intense movement. If the combustion reaches the ground, it is called thunderbolts, and its impact varies according to its strength. He says that the velocity of the light is higher than the velocity of the sound, and the light does not last long. Hail, according to Al-Kindi, is a form of precipitation that is associated with extensive instability. It falls from deep clouds, passing through the cold, local heating and conventional overturning. If the ascending air is strong, the drops are carried upward to a point at which they freeze into ice. Hailstones may attain very large sizes and are common in spring and autumn. Under extreme conditions of instability, hailstones may produce thunderstorms. As die deep clouds advance across the sky, strong and fresh winds usually precede a storm.

Al-Kindi

7

When condensation takes place, die uprush of die air is great and droplets are carried upward, and these droplets break. The thunder that follows the discharge is explained in terms of the disturbance of the air particles in the atmosphere, producing a sound Uiat is reflected to the earth from the clouds' surfaces. This is known as a thunderstorm. The above description clearly indicates that al-Kindi interpreted diese phenomena according to his observations of conditions and tangible causes. His explanations are not imaginary at all. This treatise is an interesting illustration of the level of geographical knowledge in his era. It is obvious that al-Kindi's thinking - while simple - was logical and scientific.

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas Al-Kindi founded what came to be known as a peripatetic (mashshai) school, which tried to reach the truth by means of arguments based on reason. He initiated the process of formulating a technical vocabulary in Arabic and of rethinking Greek philosophy in terms of Islamic doctrines, systematizing the study of philosophy among Muslim scholars. Despite die fact diat he was oppressed by reactionary forces because of his free thinking, many scholars admired al-Kindi for his intellectual accomplishment. His influence in the reign of al-Mutawakkil (847-61) as a teacher and an author has operated mainly dirough his writing on mathematics, astrology, natural sciences, geography and medicine. His scholarship attracted students; among them were many who later held prominent positions in the government as well as among the learned. Ahmad ibn al-Tayyib al-Sarakhsi held the important office of the muhtasib of Baghdad and also wrote a number of books. Abu Zaid al-Balkhi (850-934), al-Kindi's most important student, wrote two books on geography. AlIstakhri and ibn-Hawqal were influenced by al-Kindi in the sciences. Al-Masudi (893-956) was eager to obtain his information from the best sources, and obtained many scientific concepts from al-Kindi. In the tenth century the Brodiers of Purity of Basra included al-Kindi's many ideas on different branches of sciences in their treatises. Al-Kindi's influence was great both in the East and in the West during the Middle Ages. In die West, a few of his writings were translated into Latin by Johannes Hispatensis, Gerard of Cremona and others. Roger Bacon praised alKindi's knowledge of optics. His ideas were generally more appreciated in the West than in his own country, as his eclectic method of reasoning was not favoured by many Muslim scholars. Despite opposition to his ideas, al-Kindi's intellectual importance ensured that people would benefit from his works.

Bibliography and Sources Atiyeh, George N., Al-Kindi. The Philosopher of the Arabs, Islamabad, Islamic Research Institute, 1985. Dodge, Bayard, TheFihrist ofal-Nadim, Vol. 11, New York, Columbia University Press, 1970. Hasan, Masudul, History of Islam, Vol. I, Lahore, Islamic Publication Limited, 1987.

8

Al-Kindi

Miscony, Yusuf Yacub, A Treatise on Meteorology on the Phenomena of the Atmosphere (in Arabic by al-Kindi), Cairo, Shafik Press, 1965. Nasar, Seyyed Hossein, Three Muslim Sages, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1964. Rida, Abu, Rasail al-Kindi al-Falsafiyah (Pts I and II in Arabic), Cairo, Arabic Thought House, 1953. Sarton, George, Introduction to the History of Science, Vol. II, Baltimore, The William and Wilkins Company, 1948. Akhtar Siddiqi is a professor of geography at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA.

Chronology 801

Born in Kufa, southern Iraq

813

Al-Mamun became Caliph

833

Al-Mutasim became Caliph

837

Appointed Court Astronomer and tutor to the Caliph's son, Ahmad

847

Caliph Watiq died

847

Al-Mutawakkil became Caliph; al-Kindi oppressed

861

Regained his library

873

Died

Thomas George Bonney 1833-1923

Patrick Armstrong Vx,

Thomas George Bonney has been described as one of the last links with the 'heroic age' of geology. Born while die young Charles Darwin was aboard HMS Beagle, Bonney oudived him by over 40 years, surviving into the third decade of the twentieth century. He knew Sedgwick, Lyell and Murchison. In thinking of his life and work the notion of the 'Victorian polymath' comes to mind, for Bonney was distinguished in many fields - mathematics, geology and physical geography, classics and tiieology among diem. He was a climber and traveller, an outstanding teacher and a competent science administrator. But 'polymath' is not, perhaps, entirely the right word for this extraordinary mind, for he had the feel - not unusual amongst those of the parson-naturalist genre - for the unity of knowledge. He also had an appreciation for landscape. In his fine work, written when he was nearing 80 years of age, The building of the Alps (1912), he declared: 'I have endeavoured to write from the point of view of one who is a lover of the Alps, is somewhat of a geologist, and a little of a naturalist.' In this same volume, as well as sections on geology and landforms, there are chapters on Alpine meteorology, vegetation, animal life and 'The Alps in relation to man'. He was a great integrator, and it is for this reason, besides his profound effect on several fields that would now be considered sub-disciplines within physical geography, that he is included here.

1. Education, Life and Work Thomas George came from a family, originally of Huguenot origin, of notable teachers and divines. He was the eldest of ten children of the Reverend Thomas Bonney (senior), headmaster of Rugeley Grammar School, near Cannock Chase,

10

Thomas George Bonney

in Staffordshire, in central England. Thomas (junior) was born on 27 July 1833, at Rugeley, and went to school at Uppingham. Both his father and mother were keen naturalists, and this no doubt contributed to his enthusiasm, but it is said that his early interest was fired by the gift of a set of geological specimens by a lady relative, 'a friend of Buckland, Sedgwick and others of that generation'. He entered St John's College, Cambridge, and graduated as Twelfth Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos in 1856. He also took second class Honours in the Classical Tripos, and was prevented only by illness from taking his Theological Tripos examinations. He then taught mathematics for five years at Westminster School, being ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1857, and priest in 1858. In 1861 he returned to St John's as junior dean, becoming college tutor in 1868, as well as 'college lecturer in natural science'. In fact most of his responsibilities were in geology, a field in which he was little more than an enthusiastic autodidact. There were then no University lectureships, and in the last years of the life of the Reverend Professor Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873), who held the Woodwardian Chair from 1818 until his death, the young Bonney had much responsibility for teaching the subject throughout the University of Cambridge. He was an early and enthusiastic advocate of field and practical work, and one of his publications from this period was Cambridgeshire geology: a sketch for the use of students, published by the Cambridge firm of Deighton Bell, in 1875. This is a masterpiece of clear exposition. (Bonney's own copy - now in the possession of Durham University Library - has, very carefully written on the cover in his own hand, a series of corrections, a testament to his close attention to detail.) A later publication was A student's manual oflithology and petrology, which illustrates die way in which he was among the first to introduce students to the detailed study of rocks in the laboratory, including the examination of thin sections. Bonney was not elected to succeed Sedgwick, as some expected (perhaps quite reasonably in view of the way in which he had shouldered some of Sedgwick's work during die years of his decline). There are slight grounds for believing that there may have been a certain tension between Bonney and the incoming professor, T. McKenney Hughes, although he worked alongside him for some time. In 1877 he accepted die Yates-Goldsmith Chair of Geology at University College, London. This might be thought a slighdy odd appointment for an ordained cleric, for the college was sometimes known as 'the Godless Institution in Gower Street'. Once established in this position he played an important role in die development of scientific institutions in Britain. He became secretary of die British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1881, during his term arranging the very successful first meeting of the Association outside die United Kingdom (in Montreal). Soon after, he became president of the Geological Section, and in 1910 president of the Association. He was on the Council of the Geological Society for several terms (1876-88, 1889-94, 1895-1901, 1904-7), elected secretary 1876-84, and president 1884-6, receiving die Wollaston Medal in 1889. He also served as president of the Mineralogical Society. He was elected a Fellow of die Royal Society in 1878: he was chairman of that society's Coral Reef Committee, which organized and reported on the deep-drilling of Funafuti Atoll, which led to die substantial proof of the Darwin-Dana theory of die origin of coral reefs. Despite diese scientific activities and honours, his clerical career was not entirely overshadowed. He was made an Honorary Canon of Manchester Cathedral in 1887, and was preacher at the Whitehall Chapel Royal, and select preacher to the University of Cambridge. He published several volumes of sermons.

Thomas George Bonney

11

His energy was unbounded. He produced over 200 scientific papers and over a dozen books on science, travel, architecture and theology, besides innumerable more slight pieces. He was a great climber, serving a term as president of the Alpine Club, and indeed to some extent his love for geology and physical geography grew out of his climbing. In a retrospective piece describing the vicissitudes of continental European travel in the mid-nineteenth century, he recalled: 'I saw [the Alps] for the first time in 1856, when I took a small reading party, during the Long Vacation after my degree, to Lausanne.' He was still wandering in the Alps 50 years later. He crossed glaciers and climbed high peaks; he described how he ate a marmot! (The building of the Alps, 1912). He also knew the mountains of the Highlands of Scodand very well. Lack of formal training in science was no more of a handicap to him than it was to his older contemporaries Darwin and Lyell; indeed it has been suggested that it may have contributed to his independent outiook. Possibly also his mathematical training was in part the basis for his demand for rigour. He would not accept a theory until it was 'exhaustively proved'. He once said: 'Fine phrases unsupported by facts prove to be no better than cheques without a balance at the bank.' Such hard attitudes made him something of a controversial figure. But for the most part, these disputes were conducted with the dignity that one would expect (but does not always find) in an Anglican priest. Careful to acknowledge help given by others (or facts gleaned from tfieir writings), in his publications he often courteously agreed to differ in conclusions and interpretations. (But sometimes in his private letters, and occasionally in debate, he was quite caustic about those witii whom he disagreed!) He resigned his Chair in 1901; perhaps he recalled the way in which Adam Sedgwick hung on during the early part of his own career, but it is also said diat he was unhappy about die level of support given to him for teaching at University College. He remained in London, however, acting as a publicist for science, serving on committees and writing prolifically, particularly for the Standard newspaper. He retired to Cambridge in 1905, dying there on 10 December 1923.

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought From die days of his first visit to Switzerland in 1856, Thomas Bonney had a lifelong interest in glaciology, glacial geomorphology and alpine environments generally. Ice action was die subject of his second paper in die Geological Magazine (1866) and his presidential address to the British Association in 1910. Many were his papers dealing with glaciological topics, and two books were wholly or pardy within diis field: Ice-work past andpresent (1896), and The building of the Alps (1912). He was severely critical of several widely held ideas. For example, after many years of field work on die glaciers of the Alps and amongst die glaciated valleys of upland Britain, he doubted the efficiency of ice as an agent of erosion: he remained unconvinced as to the formation of cirques by 'plucking' by ice. While small tarns and lakes might have been formed by ice scraping, he did not accept glacial action as an originating cause of large lake basins. Of glaciers in die Alps, he wrote: The glacier appears often to have been impotent as an excavatory agent during the greater part of its course, and reserved itself for one final effort at or near its

12

Thomas George Bonney point of emergence from the mountains. Even in Greenland, where the great glaciers ... have exposed the rock beneath, this is not excavated, but is only brought to a level surface by the great ice-rasp. (1896, pp. 89-90)

There remain geomorphologists who substantially agree, arguing that frost shattering is the main agent, the glaciers themselves merely serving to carry material away. Similarly, Bonney had the utmost reluctance to accept that ice from Scandinavia ever impinged on the eastern part of Great Britain - an idea associated in his mind with the notion of ice flowing uphill, another concept which he disliked, at least until late in his career. There is a difficulty in understanding how Scandinavian land-ice ever can have extended to the eastern margin of England. From the end of the Skager Rack a channel 400 fathoms deep skirts the coast of Norway to between the 62nd and 63rd parallel of latitude, when it gradually opens out into deeper water further north. If the land were raised 600 feet, a great fjord, wide as the Straits of Dover, and still about 300 fathoms deep, would separate Scandinavia from the low plains which had replaced the North Sea; and this fjord, so far as one can judge from Greenland, would be an impassable barrier to the advance of the ice. If however, an elevation of nearly 2,500 feet be assumed, then the fjord would be converted into a broad valley. But the Scandinavian ice in obedience to the law of gravitation would first enter, and then descend this valley until it reached the Northern Atlantic, (ibid., p. 177) Many glacial geomorphologists would now have litde difficulty in envisaging a continental ice-sheet extending from Scandinavia, across the North Sea to eastern Britain. Fragments of rock of Scandinavian provenance are quite common in eastern England. But yet Bonney was scathing in a letter to Thomas Mallard Reade (5 April 1906, written from Scoope Terrace, Cambridge), about the idea of a 'Dogger Bank ice-sheet'. He admitted that 'Scandinavian rocks are not rare in this part of Cambridgeshire', but continued, 'how land ice is to bring them across the general southerly drift of erratics, I fail to see'. He was a firm believer that material could be moved long distances by 'sea ice', i.e. icebergs and floes: I am by no means unconscious of the difficulties of the 'sea ice' hypothesis, but those of land ice (speaking of course of the English lowland) seem to me far greater. In an earlier letter (T.G. Bonney to T.M. Reade, Hampstead, 6 September 1897) he had referred to the 'fungus growth of nonsense' that had grown up on 'the Ice Age Question': 'it will wither at last, but like all superstitions, it dies hard.' His letters of the period are littered with sarcastic remarks about the 'extreme glacialists': phrases such as 'ice madness', 'faithful followers of ice sheets . . . talking more like "clericals" than scientific men', 'divorced from reason', 'crank', 'bosh', ' . . . evidence which killed the glacier pig at the end of his rooting', abound. Perhaps there is a special significance in die final sentence in the 5 April 1906 letter: ' I . . . prefer not to read much literature when I go to study a district which has been the subject of controversy.' (Although he was always more outspoken in the privacy of a personal letter than in print.) But despite his penchant for 'drift' disputes, Bonney was also at home among

Thomas George Bonney

13

the oldest rocks of the British Isles. He was an authority on the Archaean (PreCambrian) rocks of England and Wales, but he became involved in vigorous disputes about the gneisses and schists of the Scottish Highlands (see, for example, his presidential address to the Geological Society {Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, Proceedings, 41, 61-99). He also worked on serpentines, such as those of the Lizard, correcdy suggesting their origin, and on eclogites from the diamond pipes of South Africa. Unlike some persons with a geological bent, he was entirely happy with the term 'physical geography'. He was in fact an authority on the use of sediments for the reconstruction of 'the physical geography of bygone ages'. He also understood the way in which factors interacted. His 'Vegetation' chapter in The building of the Alps displays an understanding of the manner in which altitude, aspect, substratum and microclimate interact in influencing the distribution of plant species. He also frequendy wrote of the subde dialogue between the human activities and the physical geography of an area. A slightly overwritten, but none the less vivid and accurate example comes from his account of the Fens in his Cambridgeshire memoir: [The Fenland is] a wide-spread tract of perfectly flat land extending to the sea, and scarcely above its level; once an ague-haunted marsh, flooded in great part for many months of the year, and rich alone in fish and wild fowl; now intersected with ditches, a light, dry black soil, green in spring time with sprouting blade, golden in autumn with the dense ears of grain. It is a strange solemn land, silent even yet, with houses few and far between, except where diey have for centuries clustered on some bank of Jurassic clay, which rises like a shoal not many feet above the plain. (1875, pp. 7-8) He was also among the early writers who documented the deleterious effects that tourism and recreational pressure were having on mountain environments, and made many pleas for the conservation of vegetation, animal life and scenic values, both in Britain and on the continent. It is often said that ideas espoused in Charles Darwin's On the origin of species, published in 1859, were met with vigorous opposition from many churchmen. But such opposition was far from universal; the reception of On the origin by Thomas Bonney and many of his contemporaries was very different from that accorded it by the (scientifically ignorant) Bishop Wilberforce ('Soapy Sam'). Bonney, versatile-minded integrator that he was, remarked at one stage that mineralogy 'still needs its Darwin'. His Present relations of science and religion (1913) was a masterly synthesis of scientific and theological ideas (firmly in the Paleyan 'natural theology' mould) that only a mind of the versatility of that of Bonney could have produced.

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas There is a tendency in discussing the history of ideas to concentrate on the ideas of important individuals that were later developed by others and upon diose of their theories that general opinion later approved as substantially correct. This 'whiggish' approach, looking, as it were, downhill from die present, has its limitations: it precludes the detailed study of ideas that were subsequendy proved to be mistaken. The 'whig' view of intellectual history neglects fascinating 'blind

14

Thomas George Bonney

alleys' that provide interesting glimpses of how the personalities of individuals are sometimes tighdy connected with their scientific ideas. Darwin was one of the first to admit that he had learnt something from being wrong about the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy (he originally thought they were cut by the sea and were evidence of sea-level change; they were subsequendy shown to have been formed by an icedammed lake). Bonney was probably mistaken in some of his ideas on ice and its power. But examining the way in which a cautious, critical approach rejected ideas until subjected to a rigorous testing illuminates a part of his character. And certainly his ideas on ice were influential at the time. But over many matters Thomas George Bonney was not wrong and his influence on the directions subsequently taken by the earth sciences was profound. He emphasized process studies in glaciology; he unravelled the mysteries of tighdy folded rocks; he was a pioneer in petrography; he used sediments to reconstruct past environments; he was showing how subde can be the relationships widiin complex networks of factors before many who were ready to use the title geographer were doing so. His role in teaching has already been stressed; perhaps his strengdis were moulded by his having taught in a school for several years before his first university appointment. He was an innovator in practical and field teaching. One of the first who was influenced by Thomas Bonneys's teaching at Cambridge was Alfred Jukes-Brown, an excellent field worker. Others who were influenced were WJ. Sollas, J.E. Marr, W.W. Watts, JJ.H. Teall, A. Strahan and another parsongeologist, the Reverend (later Canon) E. Hill. Bonney would also have no doubt seen his popular writing - both books and magazines - as bringing aspects of his eclectic interests before a wider public. His philosophical writings also had a wide impact. I thank David Livingstone, of Queens University, Belfast, for the suggestion that I look at the life at T.G. Bonney. Much of the work for this study was completed during my tenure of a Leonard Slater Fellowship at University College, Durham, while on sabbatical leave from the University of Western Australia.

Bibliography and Sources OBITUARIES AND REFERENCES ON THOMAS GEORGE BONNEY Anon., 'Eminent living geologists. The Rev. Professor T.G. Bonney', Geological Magazine 38(1) (1901), 385-400. This contains a list of scientific papers for 1862 to 1901. Watts, W.W., obituary, Proceedings of the Royal Society B99 (1926), xvii-xxvii. Woodward, H.H., The history of the Geological Society of London, Geological Society (1907). This contains a number of references to Bonney's publications and the work of the society. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS BY THOMAS GEORGE BONNEY 1875

Cambridgeshire geology: a sketch for the use of students, Deighton Bell, Cambridge.

Thomas George Bonney 1893

The story of our planet, London.

1895

Charles Lyell and modern geology, London.

1896

Ice-work past and present, Kegan Paul, London.

1899

Volcanoes, London.

1912

The building of the Alps, T. Fisher Unwin, London.

1913

The present relations of science and religion, Robert Scott, London.

1921

Memoirs of a long life, Cambridge.

15

Most of his scientific papers were published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, Geological Magazine, Mineralogical Magazine and the publications of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. ARCHIVES Bonney was a precocious correspondent and his letters are widely scattered. Some are in various collections in Cambridge, including the Darwin Archive at Cambridge University Library. I also found those in the Sydney Jones Library of the University of Liverpool particularly revealing. Patrick Armstrong teaches geography at the University of Western Australia. He is co-editor of Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies.

Chronology 1833

Born 27 July, Rugeley, Staffordshire

1853

Entered St John's College, Cambridge

1856

Twelfth Wrangler, Mathematics Tripos. Later taught at Westminster School

1857

Ordained deacon in the Church of England

1858

Ordained priest

1861

Returned to St John's College as junior dean, later becoming tutor, college lecturer and eventually taking responsibility for most teaching of geology throughout the University of Cambridge

1873

Deadi of Professor Adam Sedgwick. Bonney may have had expectations of being appointed to the Cambridge Chair

1877

Appointed to Chair at University College, London

1878

Elected Fellow of the Royal Society

1881

Elected secretary of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

1884-6

President of the Geological Society

1896

Publication of Ice-work past and present

1887

Made Canon of Manchester Cathedral

16

Thomas George Bonney

1889

Awarded Wollaston Medal

1901

Retired from university duties; remained in London

1905

Moved back to Cambridge

1910

President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

1912

Publication of The building of the A Ips

1923

Died 10 December, in Cambridge

William Speirs Bruce 1867-1921

Peter Speak

William Speirs Bruce, a man not without honour in his own country of Scotland, and certainly one with more than a little of the stuff that heroes are made of, has been largely neglected, quite undeservedly, by geographers and students of the natural sciences. And yet at a time when the study of natural history had not been supplanted by ecology Bruce was one of die most eclectic of environmental scientists. His achievements mark him out as a truly remarkable man. Apart from a short time as the manager of a whaling station in the Seychelles Islands and a brief period during die First World War employed in London at the Admiralty, he devoted his professional life to the polar regions of the world. In the only biography of Bruce, A Naturalist at the Poles written by one of his closest friends, R.N. Rudmose Brown, the tide of Geographer could well be substituted for that of Naturalist and Bruce would have been happy to have been described in diis way. Not only did he create and lead die Scottish National Antarctic Expedition for which he is best known, but throughout his life he was intimately associated with both the Royal Geographical Society in London and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in Edinburgh. It was die latter body diat encouraged and provided material support for his major Antarctic venture. He addressed and wrote for botii societies, attended die famous 1895 London meeting of the International Geographical Congress, and gave papers to Section E of die British Association. Between 1906 and 1920 he made many visits to Spitsbergen (Svalbard since 1925) and inspired the founding of the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate in 1909; he established in Edinburgh in 1907 the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory and directed it until it closed in 1920, and as a young man he managed in the winter season of 1895-6 die summit meteorological observatory on Ben Nevis. By assiduous application in the laboratory and extensive field experience in polar seas and lands he became highly proficient in the systematic branches of the natural sciences, in topographical surveying and in mapping. He shunned

18

William Speirs Bruce

adventure for its own sake and believed that geographical discovery should always be accompanied by rigorous scientific enquiry. ... what the mass of the public desire is pure sensationalism, therefore die Polar explorer who attains the highest latitude and who has the powers of making a vivid picture of the difficulties and hardships involved will be regarded popularly as the hero, and will seldom fail to add materially to his store of worldly welfare; while he who plods on an unknown tract of land or sea and works there in systematic and monographic style will probably not have such worldly success. (Bruce, 1911, p. 236-7) Bruce had more than a touch of noble idealism in his character and sadly too litde pragmatism or materialism. Whilst he strove to unlock the secrets of die polar world he put aside individual gain and neglected his personal fortune and that of his own family. Increasingly he and they became dependent on the patronage of his supporters. His 'Golden Years' culminated in the Scotia Expedition to die Soudi Orkney Islands (1902-4) and thereafter his career was beset by one difficulty after another.

1. Education, Life and Work EARLY YEARS William Speirs Bruce was born on 1 August 1867 at 43 Kensington Gardens Square in the Paddington district of London. He was the fourth child of a middleclass family of eight children and had one younger brother and six sisters. His modier, Mary Lloyd, came from Wales and his father Samuel Noble Bruce from a long line of Scottish ancestry, possessing one of the most noble names in Scodand. Bruce's grandmotiier was Charity Isbister from the Orkney Islands. Although brought up in London it is clear that William Bruce had a great yearning for die lands of his forefathers and Scodand was to become his permanent place of residence as well as his spiritual home. His second name Speirs, frequendy spelled wrongly as Spiers or Spears, derived from another branch of die Scottish connection. Samuel Bruce was a physician, a general practitioner, in London and was evidendy highly successful, as shordy after the birth of William die family moved to a more fashionable address at 18 Royal Crescent Wl 1 in Holland Park and were able to keep also Samuel Bruce's father and sister, and a retinue of servants, coachmen and nursemaids. The young Bruce was educated privately at home, and was frequendy taken to Kensington Gardens nearby and to the Museum of Natural History. His fatiier, in a letter to R.N. Rudmose Brown after die deadi of William Bruce, wrote: In looking back over my son's boyhood I find hardly any outstanding events to record such as might give early signs of the strenuous and steadfast character of his mature life. My fadier and sister were the chief companions of die children, and it was their daily custom to go out widi them into Kensington Gardens, which were near, and sometimes into the Natural History Museum, which was not far off. To these influences is due, as I think, his interest in life and nature. (S.N. Bruce, n.d.)

William Speirs Bruce

19

It was a beginning, but the truly formative influences were to come later in Edinburgh. Bruce's education was continued at a progressive boarding school, Norfolk County School, North Elmham, which had been opened by the Prince Consort in 1873 but closed in 1900. In 1884, at the age of 17, Bruce was intended for University College, London, to read medicine and so to follow directly in his father's footsteps. But Bruce in that year joined a summer vacation course in Edinburgh. It was to change his life. The course, led by Sir Patrick Geddes, was on the natural history of the Firth of Forth and provided an opportunity for Geddes to demonstrate his holistic approach to education. Geddes was a pioneer in many branches of the natural and social sciences - as ecologist, geographer, biologist, sociologist, town planner, and natural historian. Bruce was inspired by the teaching of this polymath and decided to stay in Edinburgh, abandon his course in London, and enrol as a medical student in the University. He had lodgings in Riddle's Court, run by Geddes as an experiment in 'social living'. Thereafter Edinburgh was his permanent place of residence, his home and workplace. He was supported by Scottish patrimony and in turn espoused the causes of Scottish nationalism to the extent of estrangement with his family in England and disenchantment with English institutions. At this time - the end of the nineteenth century - there was no better place in Britain for the aspiring polar scientist and explorer than Scotland. In Edinburgh there were eminent teachers of the natural sciences, many of whom had taken part in the Challenger Expedition (1872-6), the first major world-wide Oceanographical Expedition, and in the ports of the north-east coast there were redundant sealers and whalers, skilled in ice navigation, awaiting recruitment for new ventures in high latitudes. Bruce was fortunate too that in Scotland there were those sufficiently wealthy, like the Coats family, to give generously to Scottish enterprise. As an undergraduate, Bruce came into contact with some of these eminent men - physicists, chemists, and oceanographers - Professors P.G. Tait, J. Arthur Thompson, Sir John Murray, Sir William Turner and Sir John Young Buchanan, as well as Sir Patrick Geddes. Without exception they were to become his friends, supporters, and advisers. They not only supervised his studies and supported him financially, but opened many doors for him. Bruce spent much of his time in the Challenger Laboratories at weekends learning oceanographical techniques and assisting Buchanan and Murray with the preparation of the Challenger Reports. He met Sir Alexander Buchan, the pioneer meteorologist, who gave him his chance to study extreme weather conditions on the summit of Ben Nevis, and was befriended by Hugh Robert Mill, an eminent geographer and later Librarian at the Royal Geographical Society who recommended him as a member of the Dundee Balaena Expedition and so gave him his first opportunity to travel to the Antarctic. Later in his life he came to know well all the famous personalities of the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration (1895-1917), but he also had contact with the Classical Period through his correspondence and friendship with Sir Joseph Dal ton Hooker who had accompanied, as naturalist and artist, the British Antarctic Expedition of 1839-43 under Sir James Clark Ross. Bruce dedicated his little book on Polar Exploration to Joseph Hooker in 1911. EARLY EXPLORATION Bruce was now ready for polar exploration and polar science. The opportunity came unexpectedly in 1892. Robert Finnes of Dundee prepared a fleet of four

20

William Speirs Bruce

whaling ships to sail to the Weddell Sea to investigate the possibility of catching the southern right whale to offset the disappointing catches of whales in Arctic waters. He sought to recruit a naturalist/surgeon to accompany the ships and approached H.R. Mill who recommended the young Bruce. Hardly believing his good luck, Bruce joined the Balaena and was accompanied by his friend from Riddle's Court, the artist William Burns Burnoch. Although James Clark Ross had reported right whales in the Weddell Sea, none were found by the expedition and the fleet returned with their holds filled with sealskins, oil and blubber but not with any whale products. Bruce had conducted some scientific work, but most of his time was given to sharing the seal slaughter, a task that he hated. None the less, on returning he wrote to Mill on 4June 1893: 'I am burning to be off again anywhere, but particularly to the far south where I believe there is a vast sphere for research. The taste I have had has made me ravenous.' An account of the Balaena Expedition is given in Burn Murdoch's book From Edinburgh to the Antarctic (1894). At this time Bruce abandoned his medical studies and never graduated. He was awarded in 1906 the degree of LL.D (Doctor of Laws) by the University of Aberdeen, but never received an award from his own University of Edinburgh. EARLY YEARS IN THE ARCTIC Bruce received the patrimony of H.R. Mill once again in 1896 when Mill recommended him for the third season of the Jackson Harmsworth Expedidon to Franz Josef Land. He sailed on the Windward from London to spend a year in the Arctic collecting marine specimens and land plants and recording birds, as well as carrying out meteorological observations. But perhaps of greater importance were the contacts and friendships that he made with other members of the expedidon: David Wilton who was to join Bruce later on the Scotia Expedition, Albert Armitage and Reginald Koettlitz both of whom were destined to join Scott's Discovery Expedition, and most prestigiously of all, Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen who were resting at Elmwood following their momentous journey across the pack ice from the Fram. In 1898 Mill was instrumental in providing a further opportunity for Bruce to continue his polar collecting. At that time Mill was the Librarian at the Royal Geographical Society and Sir Clements Markham was its President. Mill was invited by the Scottish millowner Andrew Coats to join a pleasure and hunting voyage to the coastal waters of Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya. Markham refused him leave of absence and Bruce went in Mill's place in the yacht Blencathra. Bruce was in his element as naturalist. Although there were brief landings on Novaya Zemlya and on the Kolguev Islands, it was impossible to land on Bear Island and Bruce had only fleeting glimpses of Spitsbergen. Nevertheless, he managed to observe and to collect at 249 stations, make 80 soundings of oceanic depths, dredge and trawl and determine salinity distributions. He was acting as scientist whilst the others were out hunting polar bear, walrus and arctic birds. Even greater good fortune awaited him, for when the Blencathra reached Tromso on the return voyage he found there berthed at the quay the best equipped oceanographic vessel of its day, the Princesse Alice. It was owned by the pioneer oceanographer, the Prince of Monaco. To Bruce's great astonishment he was invited by the Prince to join the steam yacht on an expedition to Spitsbergen together with some of the most illustrious names in oceanography: Dr Jules Richard, Professor Karl Brandt and Sir John Buchanan. They surveyed the waters off Bear Island, Hopen and throughout Isjforden. For Bruce his apprenticeship

William Speirs Bruce

21

was over. He accompanied the Prince back to Monaco, spent the winter in the Mediterranean on the Princesse Alice and returned to Spitsbergen to continue his surveys the following summer.

THE SCOTIA EXPEDITION The Heroic Age of Polar Exploration had been initiated in 1895 when the International Geographical Congress had met in London and passed a resolution: 'That the Congress records its opinion that the exploration of the Antarctic regions is the greatest piece of geographical exploration still to be undertaken.' The scientific societies around the world were urged to prepare expeditions to the Antarctic. These invariably took on the role of national expeditions whether or not they were supported by national governments. In Britain the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society were, at first, the principal entrepreneurs leading to the British National Expedition of 1901-4 (the Discovery Expedition) led by Captain Robert F. Scott. At first the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society were involved but their support waned as the president of the Royal Geographical Society (Sir Clements Markham) ignored Scottish polar expertise and dictated himself the conditions of the proposed expedition. Bruce had quite early in the planning stages offered himself to serve under Captain Scott but by the time Markham had replied Bruce was himself organizing, with the backing of the Edinburgh Societies, a Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: the Scotia. Clements Markham saw the Scottish Expedition as a real threat to his own Discovery Expedition and in some anger wrote to Bruce: I am very sorry to hear that an attempt is to be made at Edinburgh to divert funds from the Antarctic Expedition, in order to get up a rival enterprise - 1 do not understand why this mischievous rivalry should have been started but I trust that you will not connect yourself with it. (23 March 1900) From this time Bruce increasingly distanced himself from the English societies, lived the rest of his life in Scotland, joined the St Andrew's Society and became a fervent Scottish nationalist. Accordingly the Scotia Expedition was financed entirely from Scottish scientific societies, rich Scottish patrons and Scottish wellwishers. It was led by scientists recruited in Scotland and crewed completely by Scottish seamen mainly from Dundee. What started primarily as an oceanographical expedition had become the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. In an account of the voyage of the Scotia, three of the scientific staff asserted: 'While "science" was the talisman of the expedition, "Scotland" was emblazoned on its flag.' Bruce bought a former Norwegian whaler, the Hecla, and converted it in the Ailsa shipbuilding yards on the Clyde to a fine expedition vessel, modelled and equipped on the lines of the Princesse Alice. It had excellent laboratory facilities, the latest steam-driven winches and depth-sounding machinery, and a strengthened hull to withstand considerable ice pressures. Although it had a lively roll in rough seas it was regarded as one of the best of all the polar ships at that time. The costs of the rebuilding and equipping of the ship were borne by James and Andrew Coats of Paisley and their contributions formed the major proportion of the total cost. James Coats gave £23,000 and his brother £7,000 of the £36,000 spent on the entire expedition. The captain was an experienced ice navigator,

22

William Speirs Bruce

Thomas Robertson, and of the 26 officers and crew, virtually all came from Dundee. The scientific staff consisted of: R.N. Rudmose Brown (biologist), who later became the longest serving Professor of Geography this century - at Sheffield; R.C. Mossman (meteorologist); J.H. Harvey-Pirie (doctor and glaciologist); David Wilton (zoologist); and two young men, William Cuthbertson (artist) and Alastair Ross (taxidermist). Gilbert Kerr, one of the crew, was the ship's piper and played on deck each evening. It was probably the most cost-efficient of all the national expeditions of this time. It was also the most successful in terms of the achievement of its aims, which were to carry out systematic scientific research in high latitudes. The attainment of the South Pole was not a serious consideration. The Scotia spent the first winter fast in the ice off Laurie Island in the South Orkneys and daily visits to the island allowed Bruce to construct Omond House, a meteorological observatory which has become the site of the oldest scientific base in the whole of Antarctica. It was offered by Bruce to Argentina when the British government showed no interest in its ownership. At the same time a topographic map was made of Laurie Island and daily trawls and dredgings were taken in Scotia Bay. In the second season Bruce corrected the depth of the Ross Deep and showed where the continental limits of Antarctica lay in this part of the Weddell Sea. He discovered a new stretch of coasdine which he named 'Coats Land' after his sponsors and he brought back a large and varied collection of marine specimens, rocks and birds which was to form the core of his Oceanographic Museum in Edinburgh. The expedition was very well managed. Only Adam Ramsay failed to return; he died of a heart condition, unknown when the expedition left Scodand, and was buried on Laurie Island. The scientific results were edited and published by Bruce in seven large volumes, as well as in many papers in scientific periodicals. The log of die expedition has recendy been published.

FINAL YEARS For die remainder of his days Bruce continued to devote himself to the twin causes of polar science and Scottish nationalism. He revisited Spitsbergen in seven summer seasons, established the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate in 1909 to search for minerals of economic significance. He produced the first topographic map of Prince Charles Foreland and made many inland traverses across glaciers and icefields. He continued to write papers and address conferences, but his golden days were over. He was disappointed not to be offered some post by die naval audiorities during die First World War and when it was over he was too dejected and physically weak to begin again a major polar enterprise. He returned to Spitsbergen for two summers but with little hope of exploiting minerals. He died in Edinburgh in October 1921 and requested in his will that he should be cremated and his ashes scattered over the Southern Ocean at as high a latitude as possible; this was done off Grytviken, South Georgia, by the magistrate in 1923. His wife, formerlyJessie Mackenzie, survived him, and died in Australia in 1942. His two children were his son Eillium, born in 1902, and his daughter Sheila, born in 1909.

William Speirs Bruce

23

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought On his return from the Scotia Expedition Bruce became preoccupied with publishing the scientific results, but also had plans for a Scottish Trans-Antarctic Expedition. In the latter he was overtaken by Sir Ernest Shackleton who organized the ill-fated Endurance Expedition, and his publishing was dogged by successive failures of attempts to obtain financial help from government sources. Markham in London remained an unhelpful influence. It is also likely that this same influence prevented the award of the Polar Medal to Bruce and his companions for their Antarctic work. After much acrimony Bruce, in characteristic vein, designed a polar medal of his own and awarded it himself to the scientists and to some of the crew of the Scotia ! His main contribution was in the field of oceanography: he demonstrated that the Weddell Sea sounding of James Clark Ross of '4000 feet no bottom' was erroneous and his recorded depth of 2660 feet indicated that the 'Ross Deep' did not exist. Hence the outline of this part of Antarctica could be more faithfully portrayed. Apart from the single sounding of Ross in 1843 there were no other soundings in deep water in this part of the circumpolar ocean. The voyage of the Scotia achieved 75 deep soundings in die South Atlantic Ocean and die Weddell and Biscoe Seas, besides nearly 500 soundings in the neighbourhood of the South Orkneys in water of less than 100 fathoms. The deepest sounding was 2900 fathoms, or 3.25 miles (5.2 km). The specimens that Bruce collected of birds and marine animals formed the basis of his collection for the Scottish Oceanographic Laboratory, opened by the Prince of Monaco in 1907. It was from here that the seven detailed volumes of the Scientific Reports were published. (Alas, it was closed and the collections distributed to other Scottish museums in 1919.)

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas Bruce has no permanent stone memorial, even in his beloved Scodand, aldiough he was awarded gold medals by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the American Geographical Society. The Royal Society of Edinburgh awarded him the Neill Prize and gold medal. He named topographic features in the high latitudes after his colleagues, his family and his friends, but was too modest to name anything for himself. He wrote only one popular book - Polar Exploration - but made a considerable contribution to polar scientific literature. Bruce had little interest in public speaking or in lecturing to general audiences. Throughout his life he was devoted virtually exclusively to the cause of polar science. He gave evening lectures in general geography at Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh, in 1899-1901, and again in 1917-19, and also in 1899-1901 at the Church of England Training College. In 1919 he withdrew his nomination for a lectureship at the University of Aberdeen when he knew that his friend Rudmose Brown was also a candidate. Bruce was an environmental scientist and a naturalist, whose torch had been lit by the great environmental polymath, Patrick Geddes. Bruce, by example, showed the value of the generalist and practised Geddes' holistic approach to the environmental sciences. The public knew little of him, although he was instrumental in establishing the popular Edinburgh Zoo and was tireless in the cause of Scottish nationalism.

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William Speirs Bruce

Bibliography and Sources 1. OBITUARIES OF WILLIAM SPEIRS BRUCE R.N. Rudmose Brown, Scottish Geographical Magazine, Vol. 37 (1922), pp. 46-8. Anon., Scottish Geographical Magazine, Vol. 39 (1922), pp. 46-8. Ritchie, J., Scottish Naturalist, Vol. 119/120 (1921), pp. 165-7. Rudmose Brown, R.N. and Ritchie, J., Proceedings of the Royal Society ofEdinburgh, Vol. 42, pp. 362-8. Dispatch, Edinburgh, 31 October 1921. Glasgow Herald, Glasgow, 31 October 1921. Scotsman, Edinburgh, 31 October 1921. 2. SELECTED WORKS BY W.S. BRUCE 1907-20

Report on the Scientific Results ofS.Y. Scotia during the years 1902, 1903, and 1904 (in seven volumes), Edinburgh, Scottish Oceanographic Laboratory.

1911

Polar Exploration, London, Home University Library, Williams and Norgate.

1992

The Log of the Scotia (edited by Peter Speak), Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.

W.S. Bruce also published several dozen scientific papers, particularly in Scottish Geographical Magazine, Geographical Journal and the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as well as numerous more popular articles. 3. OTHER WORKS Burn Murdoch, W.G., FromEdinburgh to the Antarctic, London, Longmans Green, 1894. Reissued, Alburgh, Bluntisham Books, and Bungay, Paradigm Press, 1984. Rudmose Brown, R.N., A Naturalist at the Poles, London, Seeley Service & Co, 1923. Three of die Staff, The Voyage of the Scotia, Edinburgh and London, Blackwood, 1906. Reissued, Mossman, R.C., Harvey-Pirie, J.H. and Rudmose Brown, R.N., The Voyage of the Scotia, London, Hurst & Co, 1978. 4. ARCHIVAL SOURCES The principal source of manuscript material and other original papers is in the Scott Polar Research Institute in the University of Cambridge; there are several hundred W.S. Bruce items at this location, as well as a substantial amount of material relating to his close associates, R.N. Rudmose Brown, and H.R. Mill. There are also some papers in die Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, and also some Bruce and Scotia-related documents in the National Library of Scodand, Edinburgh. Peter Speak was for many years Head of Geography at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia Polytechnic University) in Cambridge. Latterly he has directed the

William Speirs Bruce

25

course for the M.Phil in Polar Studies at the Scott Polar Research Institute in the University of Cambridge, and is at present Research Associate at that Institute.

Chronology 1867

Born Paddington, London, 1 August; early education at home, later at school at North Elmham, Norfolk

1884

First contact with Sir Patrick Geddes, in Edinburgh

1892-3

Naturalist-surgeon aboard the Dundee whaler Balaena on voyage to Weddell Sea

1895-6

Weather studies at Ben Nevis Observatory

1896-7

Expedition on Windward to Franz Josef Land

1898

Voyage on Blencathra to Novaya Zemlya and Kolguev Islands; later joined oceanographic vessel Princesse Alice on expedition to Spitsbergen; spent winter in Monaco

1899

Second visit aboard Princesse Alice to Spitsbergen

1902-4

Scottish National Antarctic Expedition in Scotia

1907

Scottish Oceanographic Institute opens (closed 1919). Reports of Scotia Expedition published from here

1906-14

Series of visits to Spitsbergen for mapping and prospecting for minerals

1911

Polar Exploration published

1914-18

Disappointed at not being given naval appointment in First World War; spent period 1915-16 as manager of whaling station in Seychelles

1919-20

Two further visits to Spitsbergen

1921

Died in Edinburgh; ashes scattered on ocean off Soudi Georgia in 1923

Adolphus Washington Greely 1844-1935

C.I. Jackson

Despite diverse professional and other interests, leadership of one of the most heroic and scientifically important arctic expeditions of the late nineteenth century, and a legacy of more than 100 scientific and popular writings, A.W. Greely remains a shadowy figure. Compared to other military explorers, such as Peary or Byrd, his name is almost unknown, even in his native United States. The only full-length biography of Greely appeared the year after his death. Its author, the legendary First World War aviation commander 'Billy' Mitchell, was more a family friend than a biographer and Mitchell himself died in the year that his book appeared. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that some of the difficulties encountered in tracing Greely's life are due to a strong desire on his part to separate his private and public lives. For example, his autobiography, written in his eighties, is affectionately dedicated to the memory of his wife, Henrietta Nesmith Greely, yet their meeting, courtship and marriage are described in the volume in two words ('I married'). Though Greely had a strong interest in genealogy, the autobiography does not record the births of their children, and makes almost no mention of them. Equally characteristic is his anti-heroic choice of tide for the account of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition: Three Years of Arctic Service. Even those to whom the name Greely is familiar know of him mainly or solely because of his leadership of that expedition. Yet Greely was an important figure for more than half a century. Under-age Civil War volunteer wounded at Antietam; commissioned to command a regiment of black soldiers in the War; serving on the western frontier in Brigham Young's Salt Lake City and elsewhere; Chief Signal Officer of the US Army for 19 years, including the period of the Spanish-American War; shaper of the US Weather Bureau and the Flood Protection Service; a founder of the National Geographic Society and the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC; professor of geography (unpaid!); military commander with both military and civil authority - in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake;

Adolphus Washington Greely 27 American representative at international geographical and communications conferences. A full-length critical biography of Greely is long overdue.

1. Education, Life and Work Greely's antecedents can be traced back to die pilgrims of the mid-seventeenth century, on both sides of his family. His father was John Balch Greely (P1801-64), his mother, John Balch Greely's second wife, was Frances D. Cobb (1819-1901). John Balch Greely was a shoemaker in Newburyport, Massachusetts, who contracted and eventually died of tuberculosis. Frances Greely was forced to become a cotton weaver to support the family. Adolphus Greely completed his schooling in 1860. The Civil War began in April 1861, and by July of that year Greely, though under-age, had already begun his military career in the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. By September he was on his first battlefield, at Balls Bluff, Virginia. At Antietam in September 1862 - 'the bloodiest single day's fighdng of die war': My knowledge of affairs practically ended here. As we fell back I was shot in die face, die bullet cracking my jawbone and knocking out several of my teedi... I ran and a minute later was struck by another bullet on my left diigh ... (Greely, 1927, p. 76) A mondi later he was back in service and during street fighdng in Fredericksburg in December 1862 was able to vault a five-foot garden wall in what surprisingly in view of his later career - he was to remember as 'probably die most exciting moment of my life' (ibid., p. 83). He was promoted to sergeant, part of a series of promotions that enabled him to become 'die first of three million volunteers, who . . . served in the war for the Union, to reach the grade of a general officer in the regular establishment' (ibid., pp. 86-7). In 1863, still only 18 years old, Greely was commissioned as second lieutenant in what became die 81st US Colored Infantry and he served for the next four years in command of freed slaves in Louisiana. After the war, his regiment was provost guard for New Orleans, 'a duty of delicacy for any Union command, but one of extreme difficulty for colored troops dealing with a soutiiern community just emerged from war' (ibid., p. 94). Greely ended over five years of volunteer service in 1867 widi the rank of captain and brevet major; he was then commissioned as second lieutenant in the regular army, and immediately moved to die western frontier in Wyoming. His task was die protection of the overland mail stage route from Denver to Salt Lake City. He saw the vote extended to all women for the first time in Wyoming, and was one of the few 'Gentiles' in Brigham Young's Salt Lake City. This first period of service in the American West coincided with the creation of the US Signal Corps, to which Greely was detailed at the end of 1867; 'it might be said that he and the Corps grew up together' (Mitchell, 1936, p. 46). Throughout the 1870s, Greely alternated between telegraph construction in various parts of America (Texas and Oklahoma 1875, Outer Banks of North Carolina 1876, New Mexico-southern California 1877, Dakotas 1878) and die creation in Washington of two major branches of the Signal Corps, which later became the US Weadier Bureau and the River and Flood Service. He took six months' leave in Europe in 1876, mainly because of physical and mental exhaustion after die work in Texas

28

Adolphus Washington Greely

and Oklahoma, and he found time in San Diego in 1878 to woo and marry Henrietta Nesmith, only to be separated from her soon afterwards by his assignment to the Dakotas. In March 1880 First Lieutenant Greely was 'assigned to die command of the expeditionary force now organizing . . . to establish a station north of the eightyfirst degree of north latitude, at or near Lady Franklin Bay, for the purpose of scientific observation . . . " (LFBE, 1888, i, Appendix 1). The station was one of 14 circumpolar land stations (two of them in the Southern Hemisphere) that were established by 12 nations as a joint scientific enterprise in what became known as the First Polar Year. The Lady Franklin Bay site was the only one poleward of 80°; a second United States station was established at Point Barrow, Alaska. That the expedition was manned from the US Army, rather dian the navy, and that Lady Franklin Bay was the site selected, appear to have been due to the enthusiasm for the Polar Year initiative shown by two army officers, Captain Howgate and General Hazen, Chief Signal Officer. The Signal Corps was probably the most science-oriented branch of die army at the time, and Greely, still technically an 'acting signal officer' seconded from the 5th Cavalry, had the right combination of age, experience and status. Lady Franklin Bay, on the east coast of Ellesmere Island, had been the base for HMS Discovery during the British expedition in 1875-6, while HMS Alert reached die nordi coast of die island. Sailing from Stjohn's, Newfoundland, on 7July 1881 in the steam-driven sealer Proteus, die expedition reached Discovery Harbour in Lady Franklin Bay on 11 August. Construction of die base, named Fort Conger, was completed by die end of the month. Already, however, personality differences had appeared, which were to bedevil, diough scarcely to wreck, the work of the expedition, and later to imperil its survival. One incident involved the expedition's surgeon, Octave Pavy, who was to prove a thorn in Greely's flesh throughout, and led to the return of one member of die expedition. In Greely's words, 'the surgeon of the expedition had shown a marked disposition to extreme measures if Mr Clay remained. Our surgeon was indispensable, and all honorable concessions to retain him should be made' (Greely, 1886, i, p. 84). Two other members were also returned to the Proteus because of health problems, but die most bizarre situation involved one of two officers subordinate to Greely, LtF.F. Kislingsbury. The latter objected - and this is clear from writings at the time by both Kislingsbury and Greely - to being required to rise and breakfast at the same time as the enlisted men. Kislingsbury requested permission to return to Washington, and Greely agreed. However, the exchange of correspondence documenting the situation coincided with a movement in the sea-ice that enabled Proteus to get under way: .. .just as Lieutenant Kislingsbury was leaving the station to board her, and he was consequendy obliged to return ... He remained at Fort Conger performing no duty, and no furdier requirements were made of him dian tiiat he should conform to die police regulations of die station. At no time did he ever request to be returned to duty as an officer of the expedition ... (LFBE, 1888, i, p. 7) Under these inauspicious circumstances, Greely and 24 otiier men began their contribution to the First Polar Year. The scientific work is considered in the following section; it involved bodi static observations at Fort Conger and geographical and geological exploration. Little of the latter could, however, be accomplished in 1881, since the sun at that latitude is absent from mid-October until die end of February.

Adolphus Washington Greely 29 The main sledge journeys in 1882 took one party, led by Pavy, to the north coast of Ellesmere Island; another, led by Greely, westwards into the interior of die Island; and a third led by Lt Lockwood eastwards along die north coast of Greenland. This party 'charted 85 miles of unexplored Greenland coastline' (Berton, 1988, p. 444) and also achieved the then 'farthest north' at 83° 24' N. It was, however, Greely's own explorations that produced die most surprising discoveries. Ascending a frozen river from sea-level at the end of April, in air temperatures diat were around 0°F ( —18°C): ... we were astonished beyond measure at reaching a point where die stream was open ... The open river, about fifty yards wide and of clear water, was a rapidly running stream of an average depth of two feet... We travelled alongside the open river ... and a sharp turn brought in sight a scene which we shall all remember to our dying day. Before us was an immense ice-bound lake ... To the northward some eight or ten miles - its base at die nordiern edge of the lake (Hazen) - a pardy snow-clad range of high hills (Garfield range) appeared, behind and above which the hog-back, snow-clad summits of die United States mountains rose widi their stern, unchanging splendor ... The scene was one of great beauty and impressiveness. (Greely, 1886, i, pp. 275-6) Greely made a second trip to Lake Hazen in July. Seventy-five years later, die present writer spent 12 mondis in this awe-inspiring setting as a member of a Canadian contribution to the International Geophysical Year, a scientific collaboration that descended directly from the First Polar Year. In the instructions given to Greely before leaving Washington was the following statement: It is contemplated diat the permanent station shall be visited, in 1882 and in 1883, by a steam sealer or other vessel, by which such supplies for, and such additions to die present party as are deemed needful will be sent. (LFBE, 1888, i, Appendix 3) No vessel arrived in August 1882. This was not in itself a critical failure, since there were sufficient provisions at Fort Conger for at least three years. The expedition would have remained a second year in any event, but diere was an inevitable decline in morale: 'It was harder to face diis misfortune dian we had anticipated' (Greely, 1886, i, p. 428). The scientific observations at Fort Conger continued. When the opportunity for furdier exploration returned in April 1883, more work in nordi Greenland was prevented by open water along the Greenland shoreline. Instead, Lockwood, Brainard and Christensen continued the inland exploration of Ellesmere Island, taking a different and more difficult route south of Lake Hazen. In mid-May diey reached die west coast at die head of Greely Fiord. Whereas die wording of Greely's orders regarding the 1882 relief ship had been remarkably imprecise (Tt is contemplated d i a t . . . ' ) , die arrangements for 1883 were explicit: If not visited in 1882, Lieutenant Greely will abandon his station not later dian September 1,1883, and will retreat southward by boat, following closely die east coast of Grinnell Land until the relieving vessel is met or Litdeton Island is reached. (LFBE, 1888, i, Appendix 3)

30

Adolphus Washington Greely

The same instructions provided diat supplies would have been left at Litdeton Island, on the Greenland side of Smith Sound, by the vessel in 1882, and also that the 1883 relief vessel, if unable to reach Lady Franklin Bay, would leave stores and a wintering party at Litdeton Island. There is, however, some evidence of confusion in the drafting of the orders at this point. More important, the orders placed Greely's expedition in a situation where it was compelled to leave a safe, and still adequately-supplied base in search of a relief ship and supplies that, in the event, were not there. That, however, is the wisdom of hindsight. The story of the expedition's retreat southwards to Cape Sabine, and of die failure of the relief expeditions in 1882 and 1883 to carry out their instructions, is complicated and controversial. The most recent summary by Berton is valuable, but also clearly indicates the need for a more detailed re-evaluation. Suffice it to say here that the 1882 relief ship Neptune, turned back by pack ice, had left only 250 rations at Litdeton Island, and a similar amount on the Ellesmere coastline. The 1883 relief ship Proteus was nipped by die ice and sank in late July. Everyone on board survived and, amazingly, reached safety at Upernavik far to die south. All that was left behind for the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition to find was a message of failure. Fort Conger was abandoned on 9 August, but the expedition's boats became beset in tiie ice of Kane Basin for several weeks, reaching land soudi of Cape Sabine, on die western side of Smith Sound, only at the end of September. A visit to Cape Sabine in early October found caches sufficient for less than two months, as well as news that die Proteus had sunk. Litdeton Island, across Smith Sound, was inaccessible. During October, the expedition moved to Cape Sabine, where it endured a third winter in a hut made with stones and with the whaleboat as a roof. Despite horrific conditions of cold and starvation, the first deatii did not take place until mid-January 1884, and the remainder of die expedition survived until early April. Thereafter starvation took a regular toll, and one man was shot to death on Greely's orders for stealing food. When a relief expedition finally reached Cape Sabine on 22 June, only seven of the 25 were still alive. One of diese died later, and it seemed evident that no one would have survived had die rescue been delayed by even two days (Schley and Soley, 1885, p. 270). After the survivors returned to the United States, public attention focused on the great loss of life and on the fact that some of die corpses brought back from Cape Sabine showed evidence of cannibalism. This had been unknown to Greely and the other survivors, and Berton concluded that the 'evidence seemed to point to Dr Pavy as one of the culprits, perhaps the only one' (Berton, 1988, p. 484). Though one of the weakest survivors when found, Greely recovered quickly, both mentally and physically. Before the relief ship reached Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he had regained the 50 pounds in weight that he had lost since leaving Fort Conger, and within a year he had written his official report and organized die more tiian 100 appendices. By January 1886, he had completed die 'popular' account, Three Years of Arctic Seivice. The success of this account, he wrote later, gave him 'literary confidence' and American Weather, an outgrowth of his Signal Corps work, followed in 1888. By this time Greely had succeeded General Hazen as head of the Signal Corps. Greely described himself as 'in turn an author, an electrician, an explorer and a soldier' (Greely, 1927, p. 332). For die two decades between his return from the Arctic in 1884 and his retirement from the army in 1908, he was all of these, often simultaneously. Despite his lack of advanced education, he was also an influential science administrator and innovator, in a period when die army still preferred

Adolphus Washington Greely 31 cavalry to the telegraph as a way of conveying messages (ibid., p. 159). That situation changed decisively as a result of the Spanish-American War in 1898. In this affair, Greely was as much at war with his military colleagues as with the Spanish in Cuba. He wrote later that the War was won 'by a Navy that was unable to locate Cervera's fleet, and by an army that declined suitable equipment for the field' (ibid., p. 178). Samuel Eliot Morison has described President McKinley as 'a kindly soul in a spineless body' (Oxford History of the American People, 1965, p. 799) but McKinley supported Greely, head of a Signal Corps that had available only '$800, 8 officers and 50 men' (Greely, 1927, p. 179), against a Navy which insisted that wherever Cervera's fleet was, it could not be in Santiago, and against an army that sailed to Cuba 'without telegraph, telephone, or even a call bell' (ibid., p. 185). The War was a temporary distraction from Greely's organization of telegraph lines throughout Alaska (ibid., Chapter 20). When this was done, McKinley acquiesced in a venture in personal diplomacy by Greely, who secured agreement by Prime Minister Laurier of Canada to link the Alaskan network with the rest of the United States, by a connection to the Canadian system in the Klondike. A decade later, Greely organized a submarine cable that provided a direct American link. Greely visited Alaska six times between 1900 and 1908. In this same period, Greely similarly visited and supervised the installation of 16,000 miles of wire and cables throughout the Philippines. He represented the United States at both the International Telegraph Conference in London and the International Wireless Conference in Berlin. In Washington, from 1898 until 1903, he was also encouraging manned flight, providing official financial support to Samuel Pierpoint Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Langley failed where the Wright brothers succeeded, but Greely's enthusiasm was justified. He regarded this support as 'the most important peace duty I ever performed' (ibid., p. 162). Somehow he also found time, in leisure hours over five years, to prepare a lengthy catalogue of Congressional documents covering the period from 1789 to 1817. First published in 1900, this was reprinted in 1973 and is still a standard reference. Greely's term as Chief Signal Officer ended in 1906, when he was given command of the Pacific Division of the Army, with headquarters in San Francisco. He was on his way from there to the wedding of his daughter Adola in Washington when the earthquake struck on 18 April. He returned immediately, to find his office destroyed and the city in flames. With the support of both civil and military authorities, he assumed sole control, maintained until civil power was restored on ljuly: There were over 500 dead, and as many more injured, in and near San Francisco and other cities. More than 200,000 people ... had lost their houses by fire, and were absolutely destitute ... The denser half of the city, toward the bay, was entirely destroyed, and the streets, filled with huge masses of debris, were impassable. All lines of local transportation were destroyed, with their plants and equipment. Nine-tenths of the retail groceries were burned, so that people were unable to obtain food. The water system was so badly broken that more than half the residents had to obtain water elsewhere. The telegraph and telephone systems were entirely out of commission ... The San Francisco disaster brought under my control the largest force - army, marine and navy - that ever worked together in peace times ... It was a source of satisfaction to have administered relief to nearly 400,000 distressed persons ... There were no murders, no riots, no epidemic, no formal

32

Adolphus Washington Greely criticism, and no one went hungry or unclothed. Perfect harmony marked relations with all civil authorities, (ibid., pp. 220, 224)

A.W. Greely retired from the army in March 1908, at the age of 64, and sailed with his wife and younger daughters for a round-the-world trip that included the Philippines, Japan, China and die Trans-Siberian Railway. They wintered in Italy, returned to their home in G Street in Washington, and a few years later acquired a summer residence near South Conway, New Hampshire. Greely's wife died in 1918. His autobiography appeared in 1927 and he died in Washington in 1935, shordy after receiving die Medal of Honor.

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought By die dme that Greely was appointed to lead die Lady Franklin Bay Expedition in 1881, he had been attached to the Signal Corps for well over a decade. Much of his dme had been spent in building telegraph links on die western frontier, but periods in Washington involved data analysis for die River and Flood Service and the Weather Bureau, at that time both subordinate agencies of the Signal Corps. Like odier scientific expeditions of the period, such as Nansen's drift in die Fram a decade later, its members possessed few formal qualifications in science. Edward Israel, a recent graduate in astronomy from die University of Michigan, enlisted in die army specifically to join die expedition, and it was hoped diat die expedition's physician, Octave Pavy, would develop skills in die biological sciences. However, he appears to have lacked the scientific temperament, and was formally relieved of his responsibilities as naturalist by Greely in June 1883. Neverdieless, die expedition made an outstanding scientific contribution to the International Polar Year and if Greely did not arrive at Fort Conger a scientist, he had undoubtedly become one by the time he left: The primary object of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition being to carry out die scientific programme of die Hamburg Polar Conference, die utmost care was given to physical observations. The series commenced on July 1, 1881, at St John, Newfoundland, and terminated June 21, 1884, forty hours before die rescue of die survivors ... The number of observations made and recorded each day were as follows: meteorological, 234; tidal, 28; magnetic, 264 - aggregating 526 daily. On termdays die number of magnetical observations were increased to over 1,200, so diat die observers were always busy. (Greely, 1886, i, pp. 124, 132) The programme requirements were reproduced in LFBE, 1888, i, Appendix 3 and were rigorous by any standards. These regular physical observations were supplemented by careful observations of flora and fauna, geology, ice distribution and many otiier phenomena. Despite die hazards and suffering of die retreat from Fort Conger, all die scientific records (though few of the specimens) were brought back to the United States. As Berton has written: [Greely's] official two-volume report ran to 1,300 pages. It covered everytiiing from die tide patterns of Arctic waters to the question of die insularity of Greenland. In every scientific field, from meteorology and astronomy to ocea-

Adolphus Washington Greely 33 nography and biology, Greely's facts, figures, charts, and photographs became the basis for future Arctic studies. (1988, p. 485) Even in a field widi such practical and widespread value as meteorology, the observations at Lady Franklin Bay were not matched in die region until die middle of die twentiedi century, when permanent weaUier stations were established at Alert and Eureka on Ellesmere Island, and at Nord in nordi Greenland. Forty years after die expedition, Greely received the Daly medal of the American Geographical Society in recognition of the scientific achievements at Fort Conger, including 'die nearest gravity observations to die Pole' and the discovery, through die tidal measurements, of 'the conformity of die sidereal day widi die diurnal unequality of die tidal waves of the earth'. The emergence of Greely the scientist is evident in die scientific appendices included in Three Years of Arctic Service, and even more in the appendices, running to over 700 pages, tiiat constitute the second volume of die official Report of die Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. Widi his Weather Bureau experience, it is not surprising that his hand is evident in the meteorological analysis, but it is starding to find approximately 400 audiorities and sources on arctic meteorology cited, in several languages, with notes that show Greely had indeed used diem. Greely wrote or contributed to most of die odier scientific appendices. On ornitiiology, for example, he quotes die 'implied and merited reproach' of an earlier audiority that previous American expeditions had 'added absolutely nothing to knowledge of arctic ornitiiology'. He set out to repair this omission, despite the fact diat 'neither personal taste nor scientific work has ever turned my attention to diis or kindred subjects'. Nor did Greely hesitate to challenge an established scientist. The pendulum records used to measure the acceleration of gravity at Fort Conger were analysed by C.S. Pierce (LFBE, ii, Appendix 141). The latter recognized die 'remarkable degree of skill and energy' shown by Greely and Israel in these measurements, but then suggested that some anomalies in die measurements indicated diat die pendulum 'lost a large part of its mass' between its weighings in Washington before and after the expedition. Greely's subsequent memorandum (ibid., p. 715) is a masterly refutation; it is also justified by both die fact diat 'These statements of Professor Pierce have been maturely made after being assured by me diat no injury came to the pendulum and that no such loss of mass was possible' and by die heroic efforts of die expedition members to ensure diat die pendulum was brought back safely to Washington, since the measurements would have been valueless if this had not been done. During die retreat over die drift ice in September 1883, with nearly tiiree tons of material to haul: The pendulum being a heavy and cumbersome instrument, I informed die men diat while die saving of it was much to be desired, from die value of subsequent comparative observations, yet it could not weigh against die chances of any man's life, and that whenever any one thought his life endangered by hauling it or any one insisted on its abandonment I would do so. To die credit of die party no man ever hinted at die abandonment, and most of diem were outspoken for its retention to die last. (LFBE, i, p. 61). Anodier expert was called in to review the evidence, who clearly supported Greely's position. Though his increasing scientific confidence was well-founded, Greely could be wrong from time to time. The 'open polar sea' was still a tenable hypothesis, and

34

Adolphus Washington Greely

the extensive absence of sea-ice visible from the north Greenland coast in 1883 prompted Greely to speculate on the subject. I doubt not that in the vicinity of the Norm and Soutii Poles are glacial lands entirely covered by ice-caps of enormous thickness, which tiirow off die huge floebergs of die nordi and the yet more remarkable flat-topped icebergs of the soudi. The nordi polar land is, I believe, of limited extent, and its shores, or die edges of its glaciers, are washed by a sea which, from its size and consequent high temperature, its ceaseless tides and strong currents, can never be entirely ice-clad ... Far be it from me to advocate a navigable polar sea. On die contrary, I am firmly possessed with the idea that an ice-belt from fifty to a hundred miles wide borders the lands to die southward, and diat the water-space to the northward can only be entered in extremely favorable years by the Spitsbergen route. (Greely, 1886, ii, p. 23) Greely was wrong, but his speculation seems based on die evidence. He may also have been influenced by his discovery of die Ruggles River, draining Lake Hazen. If a freshwater river could remain ice free near its source throughout die long arcdc winter (as the present audior can confirm that it does), why not seawater with a lower freezing-point? Greely was involved in other scientific controversies afterwards. He was critical of Nansen's Fram proposal, and of Nansen's attempt to reach die Nordi Pole on skis (see Geographers: BiobibliographicalStudies, 16, pp. 70-2), and his conclusion on the Peary-Cook controversy was that neither reached the Nordi Pole, tiiough botii achieved major journeys (Greely, 1927, pp. 298-300). More recent commentators have opened up a further controversy: diat Greely wanted his expedition to reach the North Pole, or at least a new 'farthest nordi', and diat this objective was 'out of tune' with the spirit of the International Polar Year. Both Kirwan (1959) and Berton (1988) take diis view, and bodi quote Greely's first remark to his rescuers in 1884: 'Did what I came to do - beat die best record.' Thus did die commander of die Lady Franklin Bay expedition reveal die true and secret purpose of die so-called scientific survey. He had got closer to die Pole than any other expedition; that was what mattered and, widi what had been almost his dying breath, he made it clear. (Berton, 1988, p. 481) This melodramatic judgement ignores and diminishes die immense scientific contributions made by die expedition, recognized elsewhere by Berton. It ignores the fact that, in the late nineteendi century, the nature of the polar area was still unknown and, as noted above, was a major scientific controversy. Geographical exploration and discovery were as scientifically important as die fixed-station observations at Fort Conger. Greely's instructions from the War Department urged that 'The sledging parties will generally work in the interests of exploration and discovery', and die Hamburg Conference similarly specified diat: There will also be made special observations relating to die whole Polar problem, such as die flight of birds, presence of drift-wood, and from what direction it came, and other matters as may suggest themselves from time to time and be found practicable. (LFBE, 1888, i, Appendix 3) As the farthest north of all the polar stations, Fort Conger could do more to

Adolphus Washington Greely 35 solve 'the whole Polar problem' than the others. Of course Greely and the others took pride in achieving the farthest north, but die suggestion that such an objective was in conflict with the overall objective of the International Polar Year leaves one wondering what such critics believed that overall objective to be. Greely's subsequent career was marked by his efforts to bring science and technology to military affairs, efforts that were often unwelcome to his more traditional army colleagues. On his appointment as Chief Signal Officer in 1887, he found a Weather Bureau discredited and demoralized (Greely, 1927, Chapter 18). He 'cleaned house', replacing over a hundred field observers in die first year, brought in C.F. Marvin to develop self-registering instruments, and initiated the Weather Crop Bulletin. He was instrumental in developing the legislation tiiat transferred the Bureau to civil administration, though he was initially disappointed by the result. Greely clearly saw that his account of his role in the Spanish-American War (ibid., Chapter 19) could be regarded as self-serving, so he was at pains to make clear tiiat the essential points could be independently verified. It was the Signal Corps' post at Key West that notified Greely that the Spanish fleet had reached Santiago in Cuba. The Navy was certain that the fleet was elsewhere, and the Secretary of War tried to force Greely to close the Key West post, on the grounds that 'Spain was obtaining thereby information of value'. Greely subsequently bypassed the Secretary, giving confidential messages only to President McKinley. On Greely's instructions, the Signal Corps managed to destroy two of the three submarine telegraph cables in Cuban waters, and then equipped Shafter's invading army with telephone and cable communications, again over the strong initial objections of its commander. The establishment of telegraphic communications throughout Alaska, and also throughout the Philippines, and Greely's role in encouraging experiments in manned flight, seem, when viewed at the end of the twentieth century, as obviously necessary: part of America's preparation for its leadership role in die ensuing decades. That was scarcely how they appeared at the time. Greely recalled in his Reminiscences that the Signal Corps' appropriation in 1898 was only $3,000, reflecting the view, expressed in writing in February 1885 by the Secretary of War, that 'The conveyance of military orders, or intelligence, by telegraph, is not a proper object for the existence of a Bureau in the War Department'.

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas As noted above, Greely found that the publishing success of Three Years of Arctic Service gave him a confidence in his writing ability that had been lacking earlier, presumably because he lacked a college education. It was an ability that he put to considerable and diverse use in the years that followed. The official and 'popular' accounts of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition were soon followed by American Weather (1888) and Handbook of Arctic Discoveries (1895); by the 1920s the latter work had reached a fifth edition and was renamed Handbook of Polar Discoveries. Greely was one of the 15 founders of the National Geographic Society, and eventually saw that Society's magazine reach a circulation of more than 1,000,000. In the days before it established its characteristic style, he helped to sustain it by writing a large number of articles and other contributions. Greely was also a founder of the Cosmos Club, another Washington institution that has changed considerably since Greely described it in 1898 as 'an unfashionable Club . . .

36

Adolphus Washington Greely

across Lafayette Square, where at times controverted scientific theories are tentatively treated by the method of elimination' (Greely, 1927, p. 184). In the small city of 280,000 that was turn-of-the-century Washington, DC, Greely was a prominent citizen. He founded the Washington Free Library in 1895, the precursor of the municipal library funded by Congress. He served as an unpaid professor of geography at Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, which later became George Washington University, from 1892 to 1898 and as American delegate to the International Geographical Congress at Berlin in 1899. The chapters in his Reminiscences devoted to his acquaintance with American Presidents from Johnson to Coolidge, and foreign dignitaries from Gladstone and Lord Curzon to Emperor Matsuhito, strike the modern reader as excessive and even snobbish, but there is no doubt that, in the words of a recent military biographer, 'Adolphus W. Greely is perhaps the foremost example of the small, but important, group of soldier-scientist-adventurers who led the nation into the twentieth century' (Shrader in Dictionary of American Military Biography, 1984).

Bibliography and Sources 1. SELECTED BIOGRAPHICAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES 1927

Greely, A.W., Reminiscences of Adventure and Service, a Record of Sixty-Five Years, New York & London, Charles Scribner's Sons.

1934

'Adolphus Washington Greely', in Who's Who in America 1934-1935.

1936

Mitchell, William, General Greely: The Story of a Great American, New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons.

1944

'Adolphus Washington Greely', in Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. 11, Supplement 1, pp. 352-5 (entry written by W. Elmer Ekblaw).

1984

'Adolphus Washington Greely', in Dictionary of American Military Biography, Vol. 1, Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, pp. 403-8 (entry written by Charles R Shrader). Obituary notices appeared in the New York Times on 21, 22 and 25 October 1935.

2. OTHER KEY SOURCES ON GREELY'S CAREER 1884

Proceedings of the Proteus' Court of Inquiry on the Greely Relief Expedition of 1883, US Senate Executive Document, No. 100, Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1885

Schley, W.S. and J.R. Soley, The Rescue of Greely, New York, Charles Scribners's Sons.

1885

MacKey, T.J., The Hazen Court-Martial: The Responsibility for the Disaster to the Lady Franklin Bay Polar Expedition Definitely Established, New York, D. Van Nostrand.

1886

Greely, A.W., Three Years ofArctic Service; an account of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881-84, and the attainment of the farthest north, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2 vols.

Adolphus Washington Greely 37 1888

Report on the Proceedings of the United States Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, Grinnell Land, US House of Representatives Mis. Doc. 393, 49 Cong., 1 Sess., Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 2 vols, (cited as LFBE).

1929

Brainard, David L., The Outpost of the Lost, An Arctic Adventure, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill. (This volume, edited by Bessie Rowland James, is mainly a heavily edited version of Brainard's private journal for the period from the departure from Fort Conger on 9 August 1883 until 21 June 1884, the day before the rescue at Cape Sabine. Much of this material (from 26 August 1883 onwards) had already appeared unedited as Appendix 124 in LFBE, 1888. In 1940 the same editor and publisher produced Six Came Back, the Arctic Adventure of David Brainard, utilizing additional chapters of the journal.)

1962

Kirwan, L.P., A History of Polar Exploration, London, Penguin. (First published as The White Road, London, Hollis and Carter, 1959.)

1988

Berton, Pierre, The Arctic Grail, New York & London, Viking Penguin. (Only one chapter (pp. 435-86) is devoted to the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, but Berton has reviewed both published and archival material in considerable detail; his views on Greely's leadership are therefore both valuable and controversial.)

3. OTHER WORKS WRITTEN BY, SUBSTANTIVELY EDITED BY, OR CONCERNINGA.W. GREELY a. National Geographic Magazine articles written by Greely 'The Great Storm of March 11-14, 1888', October 1888, pp. 37-9. 'Report - Geography of the Air', April 1889, pp. 151-9. 'Report - Geography of the Air', April 1890, pp. 49-63. 'Geography of the Air', May 1890, pp. 41-52. 'The Cartography and Observations of Bering's First Voyage', January 1892, pp. 205-30. 'Geography of the Air', March 1892, pp. 85-100. 'Collinson's Arctic Journey', February 1893, pp. 198-200. 'Rainfall Types of the United States', 29 April 1893, pp. 45-58. 'The Great Populous Centers of the World', July 1893, pp. 89-92. 'An Undiscovered Island Off the Northern Coast of Alaska (Part III) 'July 1893, pp. 80-3. 'The Scope and Value of Arctic Explorations', January 1896, pp. 32-9. 'The Present State of the Nicaragua Canal', February 1896, pp. 73-6. 'Nansen's Polar Expedition', March 1896, pp. 98-101. 'Jefferson as a Geographer', August 1896, pp. 269-71. 'Charles Francis Hall and Jones Sound', September 1896, pp. 308-10. 'Sixth International Geographical Congress', November 1896, p. 380.

38

Adolphus Washington Greely 'Rubber Forests of Nicaragua and Sierra Leone', March 1897, pp. 83-8. 'The Siberian Transcontinental Railroad', April 1897, pp. 121-4. 'George W. Melville, Engineer-in-chief, U.S.N.', June 1897, pp. 187-90. 'The Russian Census of 1897', November 1897, pp. 335-6. 'The Samoan Coconut', January 1898, pp. 12-24. 'Climatic Conditions of Alaska', April 1898, pp. 132-7. 'Hurricanes on die Coast of Texas', November 1900, pp. 442-5. 'Advances in Geographic Knowledge During the Nineteendi Century', April 1901, pp. 143-52. 'Russia in Recent Literature', December 1905, pp. 564-8.

'Geographical Exploration: Its Moral and Material Results', January 1906, pp. 1-5. 'Peary's Twenty Years Service in the Arctic', July 1907, pp. 451-4. 'The Economic Evolution of Alaska', July 1909, pp. 585-93. 'Duke of die Abruzzi in the Himalayas', March 1910, pp. 245-9. 'Recent Geographic Advances, Especially in Africa', April 1911, pp. 383-98. 'American Discoveries of the Antarctic Continent', March 1912, pp. 298-312. 'The Land of Promise (Siberia)', November 1912, pp. 1078-90. 'The Origin of Stefansson's Blond Eskimo', December 1912, pp. 1225-38. 'The France of Today', September 1914, pp. 193-222. 'The National Geographic Society in Wartime', April 1918, pp. 369-75. b. Other National Geographic Magazine material There is a photograph of Greely at p. 129 in January 1936; and portraits as die frontispiece in June 1896 and at p. 355 in October 1901. He is noted as a founder at p. 23 in January 1906; at p. 793 in June 1934; and at p. 133 in August 1943. There is a lengdiy article by Donald B. MacMillan 'The "Bowdoin" in North Greenland: Arctic Explorers Place Tablet to Commemorate Sacrifices of die Lady Franklin Bay Expedition', June 1925, pp. 677-722. Addresses by Greely appear in December 1894, pp. 200-7 (Geography of the Air); in February 1898, pp. 68-70 (Memorial Gardiner Greene Hubbard); in January 1909, pp. 77-95 (Honors to die American Navy); in March 1911, pp. 267-84 (In Honor of the Army and Aviation); and in April 1920, pp. 338-45 (The National Geographic Society's Notable Year). His election as Chairman of the Committee on die 8di International Geographical Congress is noted in June 1902, pp. 218-19. c. Other publications by A.W. Greely 1881 Isothermal Lines of the United States, Washington, DC. 1881

Chronological List of Auroras Observed from 1870 to 1879, Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1884

'Recent Discoveries in Northern Greenland and in Grinnell Land', Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc, New ser. vol. 6, pp. 679-81.

Adolphus Washington Greely 39 1886

'Arctic exploration, with reference to Grinnell Land', Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc, New ser. vol. 8, pp. 156-76.

1888

American Weather, New York, Dodd, Mead & Co.

1888

The Rainfall of the Pacific Slope and the Western States and Territories, US Senate Executive Document No. 91, 50 Cong., 1 Sess., Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1889

Climate of Oregon and Washington, US Senate Executive Document No. 282, 50 Cong., 1 Sess., Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1890

Climate of Nebraska, US Senate Executive Document No. 115, 51 Cong., 1 Sess., Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1891

Report on the Climate of Colorado and Utah, US House of Representatives Executive Document No. 287, 51 Cong., 2 Sess., Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1891

Report on the Climatology of the And Regions of the United States, with Reference to Irrigation, US House of Representatives Executive Document No. 287, 51 Cong., 2 Sess., Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1891

Diurnal Fluctuations of Atmospheric Pressure at Twenty-nine Selected Stations in the United States, US War Department, Signal Office.

1892

Report on the Climatic Conditions of the State of Texas, US Senate Executive Document No. 5, 52 Cong., 1 Sess., Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1894

Explorers and Travelers, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons.

1895

Handbook of Arctic Discoveries, Boston, Roberts Bros. Renamed in 3rd edn, 1906: Handbook of Polar Discoveries.

1898

'When I Stood Face to Face with Death', Ladies' Home Journal, October.

1900

Public Documents of the First Fourteen Congresses, 1789-1817, Washington, DC, Government Printing Office (reprinted, Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1973).

1906

Earthquake in California, April 18, 1906: Special Report ofMaj. Gen. Adolphus W. Greely, U.S.A., Commanding the Pacific Division, on the relief operations conducted by the military authorities of the United States at San Francisco and other points, with accompanying documents, Washington, DC, Government Printing Office.

1909

Handbook ofAlaska; its resources, products and attractions, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons.

1909

Richard Ingersoll of Salem, Massachusetts and Some of His Descendants, Salem, MA.

1912

True Tales of Arctic Heroism in the New World, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons.

1912

Ancestors of Major-General A.W. Greely, U.S. Army, and of his Wife, Washington, DC. Strictly speaking, this is not a publication. It is a single typewritten and bound volume, with a covering letter to die Librarian of

40

Adolphus Washington Greely Congress dated 28 November 1912, preserved in the Rare Book Collection of the Library of Congress.

1914

'Les Forets dans les lies Philippines', pp. 145-57 in: Institut Colonial International, La Regime forestier aux Colonies, tome III, Bruxelles (Brussels). Greely's contribution was written in English, and subsequendy translated into French for publication.

1919

'Russian Explorations of die Siberian Ocean in 1918', Natural History, 19, 2, p. 182.

1928

The Polar Regions in the Twentieth Century; their discovery and industrial evolution, Boston, Litde, Brown & Co. As Chief Signal Officer from 1887 until 1906, Greely issued annual reports, which were incorporated into die annual reports of the Secretary of War, and published.

4. PRINCIPAL MANUSCRIPT SOURCES There are seventy linear feet (approximately 45,000 items) of Greely papers in die Library of Congress. Official records relating to Greely's military service are available dirough die US National Archives and Records Administration. Elizabeth A. Olson, of Alexandria, Virginia, is currendy working on Greely family history, and her help in preparing this account of A.W. Greely's life is gratefully acknowledged. C.I.Jackson lives in Hamden, Connecticut and is a director of Chreod Ltd, Ottawa, Ontario.

Chronology 1844

Born Newburyport, Massachusetts, 27 March

1861

Enlisted in the 19th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry; first action at Balls Bluff, October

1862

Wounded at Antietam

1863

Commissioned as second lieutenant in the 4di US volunteers (subsequendy die 81st Colored Infantry)

1863-7

Service in Louisiana reaching the rank of captain and brevet major

1867

Mustered out of volunteer service; subsequendy commissioned in 36th Regular Infantry and assigned to Signal Corps, an assignment that continued until 1906

1867-81

Alternating periods of work on western frontier with service in Washington. Indian campaign in Nebraska 1869. Helped to initiate die River and Flood Service 1872-3. Construction of telegraph lines in Texas, Oklahoma and along the Mexican border 1875-7. Visited Europe during six-month sick leave. Restored hurricane-destroyed cables on Adantic coast and reorganized telegraph system between Santa Fe and San Diego; in charge of construction of telegraph line in

Adolphus Washington Greely 41 Dakotas and Montana 1878; weather forecasting and related duties in Washington 1879-81 1873

Promoted first lieutenant, 5th Cavalry, 27 May

1878

Married Henrietta Cruger Hudson Nesmith. Helped found Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

1879

Daughter Antoinette born, June

1880

Declined command of First Polar Year expedition to Lady Franklin Bay in die Gulnare; this expedition only reached Disco in Greenland and had to return

1881

Twins born in April, but only daughter Adola survived infancy. Appointed to command Lady Franklin Bay Expedition; Proteus sailed from St John's, Newfoundland, 7 July, arrived at Discovery Harbour, Lady Franklin Bay, 11 August

1882

Expedition members reached then 'farthest north' point. Other members of expedition, including Greely, discovered Lake Hazen and explored interior of Ellesmere Island

1883

Crossed Ellesmere Island, reached winter quarters at Cape Sabine

1884

Rescue of Greely and six other survivors, 22 June

1885

Son John Nesmith born, June

1886

Promoted to captain. Awarded Founder's Medal of die Royal Geographical Society (London) and the Roquette Medal of die Societe de Geographie, Paris

1887

Acting Chief Signal Officer and promoted to brigadier general. Daughter Rose Ishbel born, February

1888

One of founders of National Geographic Society, and a trustee until his death

1889

Son Adolphus Washington Jr born, January

1889-97

As Chief Signal Officer, created internal telegraph links in Alaska

1891

Daughter Gertrude Gale born, September

1892-8

Professor of geography (unpaid), Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (subsequendy George Washington University)

1898

Greely's telegraph intelligence utilized in Cuban theatre of die Spanish-American War

1900-5

Made several visits to Alaska and organized submarine cable for direct link between Alaska and rest of United States

1901

Visited Philippines and organized creadon of telegraph connecdons throughout die islands

1903

US delegate to die International Telegraph Congress (London) and International Wireless Telegraph Congress (Berlin)

1906

Promoted to major general

42

Adolphus Washington Greely

1906-8

Series of commands in the western United States; brought San Francisco under his direct control after the earthquake; ended Ute insurrection in Wyoming without loss of life

1908

Retired from the army

1911

Recalled to active duty to represent US army at coronation of George V

1918

Wife Henrietta died, 15 March

1923

Awarded Charles P. Daly Medal of the American Geographical Society Medal of Honor conferred by US Congress 27 March. Died in Washington 20 October. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery

1935

Wilfrid George Kendrew 1884-1962

C.Gordon Smith

W.G. Kendrew, like most of the first generation of British academic geographers, studied a range of subjects at university before taking a formal qualification in geography at Oxford University. While holding a minor teaching appointment in the University he became a student in the recendy founded School of Geography, taking in 1911 die Certificate and the Diploma in Geography, die only formal geographical qualifications then available at Oxford. Shordy afterwards he began teaching for various parts of the examinations in die School. Subsequendy his teaching and writing interests were confined chiefly to climatology, in which branch of geography he established an international reputation primarily dirough two outstanding textbooks.

1. Education, Life and Work Wilfrid George Kendrew was born on 14 September 1884 at Keidi in Banffshire, Scodand, die fifth child and third son of a Customs official. The family later moved to Dublin where he attended Mountjoy School. When die family moved to Oxford in 1902 Kendrew matriculated at the University on die understanding that he would study diree years for a pass degree and not take the four-year course for an honours degree in Classics as he would have preferred to do. Kendrew was a Non-Collegiate student. Unlike students at die Colleges of die university, Non-Collegiate students lived either at home or in lodgings, and quite a high proportion, like Kendrew, studied for die pass degree but in odier respects they had die same rights and duties as odierjunior members of the University. To qualify for die pass degree Kendrew took examinations in Greek and Latin for Holy Scripture, Mechanics and Physics, Chemistry, French Language and Literature and Elements of Political Economy. He took his BA Degree in 1905.

44

Wilfrid George Kendrew

Shordy afterwards he began regular teaching for Non-Collegiate students, in the capacity first as Lecturer, later as Tutor. This teaching included aridimetic and classical studies, and for this he was paid a small stipend. While continuing to undertake teaching responsibilities for die Non-Collegiate students he attended lectures in die School of Geography, then under the direction of Professor A.J. Herbertson {Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies 3, pp. 85-92). Kendrew was duly awarded the Certificate in Regional Geography (February 1911) and the Diploma in Geography (June 1911), in both of which he achieved Distinctions. At that time the Oxford School of Geography must have been a most stimulating place even though the number of students was small. Not only was it one of die few universities in Britain offering a formal qualification in geography, particularly designed for teachers in schools, but regular summer schools were held at which lectures were given by distinguished geographers from overseas, including W.M. Davis. It is not clear how or why Kendrew's interest in geography had first developed but it was probably a consequence of an early interest in climate and in mapping and survey, for the earliest records of his teaching in the School of Geography, from 1912, show that he conducted classes and tutorials in these subjects while continuing widi his existing teaching commitments for Non-Collegiate students. It was at this period that his first publication appeared, the chapter 'Climate' in die British Isles volume of The Oxford Survey of the British Empire, edited by Herbertson and Howarth, in 1914. In the years up to 1917 Kendrew continued to lecture on such subjects as climatology, climatic and vegetation regions, and oceanography as well as meteorology. He also conducted field classes and gave practical instruction in surveying. Kendrew was commissioned into the Royal Irish Fusiliers in the summer of 1917 and began his active service as an intelligence officer on the staff of General Haig. However, there is no evidence diat the army made use of his climatological interests during his service in France in 1917 and 1918. Shordy after his return to Oxford, Kendrew served the University (1919-20) as Junior Proctor, an important administrative and disciplinary office to which senior members of the University are elected for one year. Separate from his proctorial duties, Kendrew now became heavily engaged in teaching and administrative work for Non-Collegiate students, for whom he was re-appointed Tutor following his return in 1919. Most of his teaching at diis time was for various subjects of the Pass School including classics and French. Nevertheless, it was during tins period that he brought to the press his first book, Climates of the Continents. This was published in 1922, the plan having been provisionally accepted by Oxford University Press in 1916, an early draft being completed in manuscript by March 1919. From 1923 until an Honour School was established in 1931, Kendrew gave occasional lectures in die School of Geography on such subjects as climatology and practical geography including the instruction of students in the taking of meteorological observations but a large part of his time was still devoted to NonCollegiate students for whom he became Senior Tutor and, in 1927, Dean. Though he regularly conducted field classes and gave instruction in mapreading and surveying, his lecture courses in the School of Geography were predominandy on climatology, on the relationship between climate and vegeta-

Wilfrid George Kendrew 45 tion, and on elementary meteorology, in which subject he shared the teaching with the distinguished meteorologist G.M.B. Dobson, a pioneer in the study of the ozone layer, who later became professor of atmospheric physics at Oxford. Kendrew's second major book was first entitled Climate: A Treatise on the Principles of Weather and Climate. This was published in 1930 and a second edition appeared in 1938. Its much-revised successor, Climatology - treated mainly in relation to distribution in time and place, ran to a further two editions. Kendrew's commitments in the School of Geography increased from 1932 following the introduction of a full degree course in geography. This involved Kendrew in more teaching and examining, and in supervision of geography students in his own society for Non-Collegiate students, subsequendy renamed St Catherine's Society (later St Catherine's College). From here on, the number of students entering the School of Geography increased from a mere handful to between 40 and 50 per year. Kendrew became University Lecturer in Climatology in 1935. This was perhaps indirectly owing to the influence of the then President of Magdalen College who wrote to the Professor of Geography (Mason) in 1934 expressing surprise that Kendrew, whom he considered to be one of the greatest climatologists in Europe, still earned his living by 'teaching classics at St Catherine's'. Kendrew was appointed University Reader in Climatology in 1940. In 1935 the astronomical work of the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, ceased when the observatory moved to Pretoria, South Africa. The observatory held a long and complete series of rainfall and temperature observations extending back to 1814 and in some cases to 1772. There was much concern that this unique series of meteorological records might be discontinued. Fortunately responsibility for meteorological work at this site was assumed by the School of Geography on the understanding that Kendrew would undertake the duties of Director. He took up the Directorship on 1 January 1936 and remained as Director until his retirement from the University in 1950. Kendrew was a regular and enthusiastic traveller. Before the Second World War he travelled widely in Western Europe and the Mediterranean, also visiting the Amazon Basin to gain experience of an equatorial climate. He made extensive notes on his travels, with particular reference to weather, climate and vegetation. The Second World War provided an opportunity for him to travel even further afield. In 1940 he joined the Meteorological Service of the British navy and saw service for five years as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, mainly in Eastern and Southern Africa. His main work during this period was to gather as much data as possible on the weather and climate of East and Central Africa and to study the meteorological data available for the Indian Ocean. This involved him in taking a small party of naval ratings to Agalega (approximately 56°E, 10°S), a small island between Reunion and the Seychelles, and there setting up a station to radio regular meteorological observations to Mombasa. From the meteorological point of view this was initially not a success owing to difficulties of communication, but it undoubtedly added to Kendrew's knowledge and experience of tropical climates and led to a useful survey of the island. Before embarking Kendrew had been informed that the island was uninhabited and he was surprised on landing to be greeted by a European driving a motor car. This man was the French manager of a copra plantation who subsequendy gave considerable help to Kendrew and his party. During this time in East Africa Kendrew prepared various reports and a memorandum (unpublished) on die meteorology and climate of East Africa, concerning which litde had previously been written.

46

Wilfrid George Kendrew

On his return to Oxford in late 1945 he resumed lecturing and teaching in die School of Geography and for St Catherine's Society, both of which were now expanding in numbers of students. In 1949 he published what was, in effect, a third and greatiy expanded edition of Climate, now renamed Climatology. He retired in 1950 from his posts as University Reader in Climatology, and Dean and Senior Tutor of St Cadierine's Society. During the long period when he was teaching at Oxford, Kendrew was as much involved with the affairs of St Catherine's as with the School of Geography. Though not always the easiest person to deal with, he was very much admired as a clear and excellent lecturer and he showed much care and consideration for his tutorial pupils, whether from St Catherine's or from other colleges in the University. Despite his considerable administrative and teaching duties he took a keen interest in the affairs of St Catherine's Boat Club for which he undertook some coaching. He took up an appointment as Visiting Professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1950 and following this, from 1951 until 1954, undertook work for the Canadian Government Department of Transport, Meteorological Division. This work resulted in the publication of two monographs on the climates of Canadian Provinces. Immediately after this he spent a semester as Visiting Professor at the University of Colombo in Ceylon (subsequently Sri Lanka). He spent the winter of 1955-6 in Canada. After his return to England in the spring of 1956 he remained there, apart from a brief trip to Western Europe, until his death in Cambridge in 1962.

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought When Kendrew entered the School of Geography with the intention of studying for die Certificate and Diploma, the School was then under the direction of Professor A.J. Herbertson. After studying at Edinburgh, where he did not take a degree, Herbertson had taken a Ph.D at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau. His doctoral dissertation was on the distribution of rainfall over die globe. He later expanded this work in a number of papers, developing the idea of natural or geographical regions based largely on climatic provinces similar to those proposed by the German climatologist Supan. Kendrew may well have been influenced by Herbertson's background and interests in both meteorology and climatology; there is, however, nothing to confirm this in Kendrew's subsequent published work. Indeed the author of this paper as a former pupil of Kendrew can hardly remember him referring to Herbertson's work! The first course of public lectures given by Kendrew in the School of Geography, as early as 1912, was entitled 'Meteorology'. His first publication was the chapter 'Climate' in the volume devoted to the British Isles in The Oxford Survey of the British Empire, 1914. This chapter shows not only that Kendrew had a clear understanding of the basic principles of weather and climate in so far as they affected die British Isles but also that Herbertson had confidence in Kendrew's ability to write about this in a clear and competent manner. Kendrew's first book Climates of the Continents, published in 1922, was a pioneer work, die first comprehensive account in English of world climates in one volume. It ran to five editions and remained in print for over 40 years. It has been praised for its comprehensive nature, its clarity of expression, and die vividness of some of

Wilfrid George Kendrew 47 the descriptive passages. Making full use of simple maps and diagrams, statistical tables, traveller's accounts and newspaper items concerning infrequent or unusual weather events, it brings the subject to life within a framework that is at once geographical and scientific. The text was brought up to date in each successive edition, and recently published data and ideas were regularly incorporated. When it appeared in 1961, the fifth edition was considered by one reviewer to be an ideal outline introduction to air masses, fronts and convergence zones, among other things. Kendrew's understanding of the principles of meteorology and his skill as a descriptive climatologist are well illustrated at two totally different scales in two shorter publications. In 1926 he wrote a very short but brilliant account of the climate of the Oxford district in The Natural History of the Oxford District, published for the 1926 meeting of the British Association at Oxford. His rather longer account of the climate of China published in 1929 in L.H. Dudley Buxton's China, the Land and the People, is a lucid analysis of the monsoonal nature of the climate of East Asia. Kendrew gave critical attention to the theory of progressive desiccation in Central Asia and to the influence of man as a factor in the treeless nature of much of the Chinese landscape. Climate, his second major book, published in 1930, was a systematic treatise on the general principles of climatology. It ran to four editions, the last two of which appeared under the title Climatology. Unlike Climates of the Continents which Kendrew always regarded as a work of reference, this book was intended to be an explanatory account for the general reader of the principles of weather and climate, and it is indeed highly readable. Kendrew was a connoisseur of skyscapes and the fine photographic plates of clouds were much appreciated. The book contained sections on the major elements of meteorology and their climatic significance, together with an excellent portrayal of the distinctive character of mountain climates and shorter explanatory accounts of some other major climatic types. For example he showed how, in temperate regions, successions of differing synoptic types contribute to the overall climate. In the final, 1957, edition, Kendrew incorporated recent knowledge concerning the higher troposphere and gave consideration to such matters as jet streams and blocking anticyclones, though he was criticized by some meteorologists for continuing to follow a statistical approach which was coming to be thought rather old fashioned by those who favoured the more synoptic and dynamic approach then coming into vogue. In both of his major books Kendrew gave consideration to the physiological effects of such elements as temperature, sunshine, humidity and wind-speed, factors rarely stressed as this time by meteorologists or climatologists. Kendrew's work as a naval meteorologist during the Second World War was mainly concerned with the collection and organization of meterological data from the African continent. The experience he gained of the causes and nature of tropical climates is evidenced in the later editions of his two major works and in the lectures he gave after his return to Britain. He was well aware of wartime developments in meteorology, particularly the significance of upper winds and pressure patterns. Despite his duties during the war he nevertheless found time to publish Weather in 1942, a short introductory guide to meteorology for airmen. All Kendrew's works, including his later monographs on the climates of Canadian Provinces, show that he was essentially a descriptive climatologist with a keen interest in actual places and in the effect of climate on people's lives. Like Climate and Climatology, the two Canadian monographs were meant to be, and were, of interest to general readers as well as specialists. The texts were attractively

48

Wilfrid George Kendrew

and perceptively presented and eminently readable while the supporting details were well selected from a great mass of available evidence. In other writings Kendrew showed considerable interest in the role of climate as one of the determinants of the suitability of particular tropical areas for European setdement. Until recendy such work was not held in high regard by most meteorologists but diought by many to be essentially geographical. The value of Kendrew's writing is that he was able to combine clear and vivid description with a basic knowledge of die fundamental principles of atmospheric physics. By his own admission, and from die internal evidence of his later writing Kendrew found it increasingly difficult to comprehend fully die latest developments in die science of meteorology. Such developments, diough diey may improve the accuracy of weatiier forecasts do not necessarily lead to better descriptions and explanations of die climates of die eardi.

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas Kendrew's writings were of importance in the establishment of climatology as an essentially geographical science. His two major books had a great influence in the English-speaking world, selling almost 40,000 copies between diem. One of diem, Climatology, was translated into Tamil and there was also an aborted proposal to translate Climates of the Continents into Hindi. For many years both books were widely read by students of geography, and diey influenced die work of Nordi American climatologists such as G.T. Trewartha, dius ensuring diat in die United States climatology, unlike geomorphology, was taught as part of physical geography and not as a separate subject. At die same time diese books were read and appreciated by students of pure and applied biology and by travellers who required clear guidance as to die nature of climate in many parts of the world. Appreciative reviews of his work by meteorologists resulted in a copy of Climates of the Continents forming part of the standard reference material in virtually every outstation of die British Meterological Office. The audior of diis paper often noticed tiiis widi surprise and pleasure; die very mention of the name Kendrew frequendy sparked a useful and lively conversation. The many reviews of various editions of Kendrew's books indicate diat his work was appreciated as much by meteorologists as by geographers. In his awareness of die relations between climate and vegetation and of die importance of physiological climate, Kendrew showed a fine appreciation of the distinctive role of climate in geographical studies. Although fully aware of the efforts of climatologists such as Supan, Herbertson, Koppen and E. de Martonne to produce a classification of world climates, Kendrew made no attempt to develop or improve upon diese; indeed he only mentioned die works of diese audiors by reference. It would seem that he was much more concerned widi factual accuracy concerning climate on specific parts of die eardi's surface than widi die elaboration of dieoretical constructs. There is litde doubt diat Kendrew developed his interest in climatology tiirough die early training he received in die Oxford School of Geography with which he was associated for die greater part of his academic career. It has been said that Kendrew never called himself a geographer. However, he made a very important contribution to the teaching of geography at Oxford and to the establishment of climatology as an essentially geographical discipline.

Wilfrid George Kendrew 49

Bibliography and Sources 1. OBITUARIES AND ARCHIVAL SOURCES The Times, 6 April 1962. Nature, Vol. 194, No. 4831, pp. 817-18, 2 June 1962. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 88, 1962, pp. 564-5. GeographicalJournal,Vo\. 129, 1963, pp. 127-8. Who Was Who, Vol. VI, 1961-70, p. 622. W.G. Kendrew's Papers, Library of School of Geography, University of Oxford. Minutes of Committee for Geography and other committees; lists of public lectures, Archives of School of Geography, University of Oxford. Minutes of Delegates for Non-Collegiate students, Archives of St Catherine's College, Oxford (including papers relating to Non-Collegiate students and St Catherine's Society). Papers relating to the publication of Climate/ Climatology, and Climates of the Continents, Archives of Oxford University Press. The audior gratefully acknowledges die permission of the Secretary to the Delegates of die Oxford University Press for permission to use material in Uieir archives.

2. SELECTIVE AND THEMATIC BIBLIOGRAPHY a. General Works on Climate and Meteorology Kendrew's major publications were two books on broad climatic themes, boUi of which were published in the middle years of his academic career and both of which ran to numerous editions. 1.

The Climates of the Continents, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1st edn, 1922, 387 pp., 2nd edn, 1927, 400 pp., 3rd edn, 1937, 473 pp., 4th edn, 1953, 607 pp., 5th edn, 1961,608 pp.

2.

Climate: A Treatise on the Principles of Weather and Climate, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1st edn, 1930, 329 pp., 2nd edn, 1938, 328 pp. Much revised, diis was republished as Climatology - treated mainly in relation to distribution in time and place, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1st edn, 1949,383 pp., 2nd edn, 1957,400 pp. A Tamil language edition of this work was published in two volumes by die Bureau of Tamil Publications, Madras.

In addition Kendrew published a short general manual on meteorology for official use during die Second World War, Weather-An Introductory Meteorology for Airmen, Oxford Air Training Manual, 1942, Oxford, University Press, 1942. b. Regional Works on Climate Kendrew's odier publications were all on the climates or meteorology of specific regions:

50

Wilfrid George Kendrew

'Climate' in The British Isles and Mediterranean Possessions, Vol. I of The Oxford Survey of the British Empire, eds. AJ. Herbertson and O.J.R. Howarth, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1914, pp. 46-92. 'Climate' in The Natural History of the Oxford District, ed. J.J. Walker, Oxford, University Press, 1926, pp. 21-6. 'Climate', Ch. XIV in L.H. Dudley Buxton, China, the Land and the People, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1929, pp. 271-316. Results of Meteorological Observations made at the Radcliffe Meteorological Station, Oxford, in the five years 1931-1935, Vol. LVI, 1937, Newport, Isle of Wight. 'Climatic Influences in the Highlands of Kenya', in Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, No. 71, 1945, pp. 426-30. With B.W. Currie, The Climate of Central Canada, Ottawa, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery, 1955. With D. Kerr, The Climate of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, Ottawa, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery, 1955. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Gordon Wallace in the preparation of this essay. C. Gordon Smith, one-time lecturer in the Oxford School of Geography, Fellow of Keble College, student ofW.G. Kendrew, authority on climatology and the geography of the Middle East, is now retired.

Chronology 1884

Born at Keith, Banffshire, Scotland

1902

Matriculated Oxford University as a Non-Collegiate student

1905

BA Oxon

1906

Engaged to lecture to Non-Collegiate students

1908

Junior Tutor, Non-Collegiate students

1909

MA Oxon

1911

Certificate in Regional Geography with Distinction, University of Oxford

1911

Diploma in Geography with Distinction, University of Oxford

1912 1913

Began series of weekly lectures in various aspects of meteorology Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society. Served on the Council of the Society from time to time

1914

Married his former student (in geography), Evelyn May Sandberg

1914

Practical work, seminars, field excursions for the School of Geography and Oxford University Officer Training Corps

1916

Began a continuing series of lectures on climatology

Wilfrid George Kendrew 51 1917

Lectured on climate and vegetation, and oceanography. Son born, later Sir John (Cowdery) Kendrew, CBE, FRS, molecular biologist and Nobel Laureate

1917-18

War service, Royal Irish Fusiliers

1919-20

Junior Proctor, University of Oxford

1921

Marital separation

1920-3

Tutor and Lecturer for Pass Subjects, including classics, for NonCollegiate students and other university students

1923

Returned to lecturing for the School of Geography on the climatology of Europe and Africa

1927

Dean for Non-Collegiate students

1931

Examiner for Diploma and Certificate in Geography

1932

Dean of St Catherine's Society

1932 1932

Examiner in Honour School of Geography Appointed to tutor Diploma and Honour School students for St Catherine's Society

1933

Lecturer, School of Geography

1935

University Lecturer in Climatology

1936

Director of die Radcliffe Meteorological Station. Continued as Director until his retirement in 1950

1938-9

Vice-President, Royal Meteorological Society

1940

University Reader in Climatology

1940-5

War service as Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, mainly in Africa

1950

Retirement from Oxford University

1950-1

Visiting Professor, University of British Columbia

1951-4

Service for Defence Research Board, and for Meteorological Division of die Department of Transport, Canada

1954-5

Visiting Professor, University of Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

1955-6

Winter in Canada

1962

Died 4 April, in Cambridge, England

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt 1813-?1848

William Cooper and Glen McLaren

While Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt needs little or no introduction to scholars of nineteenth-century Australia, international readers may be less familiar with his achievements as an explorer, geographer and field scientist. Briefly, Leichhardt is mainly remembered as an enigmatic figure, whose outstanding achievements have for the most part been obscured by the controversies engendered by his personal relationships and eventual disappearance in inland Australia. Such obfuscation is regrettable for recent research has clearly demonstrated that Leichhardt played a significant role in exploration, and the development of scientific hypothesizing and bushmanship, within Australia. This essay attempts, therefore, to redress these problems and present a more measured appraisal.

1. Education, Life and Work Ludwig Leichhardt was born in the hamlet of Trebatsch in the Saxon province of lower Lusatia on 23 October 1813, the sixth child of farmer and Royal Peat Inspector, Christian Leichhardt, and his wife Sophie. Although nine children resulted from this union, domestic relationships in the Leichhardt household were somewhat unusual. Christian, for example, divorced Sophie in 1828, in order to marry the sfster-in-law of his eldest child Auguste, even though Sophie continued to live in the farmhouse and remain a member of the family circle. Later, Christian's sexual interests shifted from his second wife to a young orphan girl who had recendy come to live with them. Nevertheless, Ludwig retained considerable affection for his parents and siblings, continuing to correspond with them until his death.

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt

53

It is likely that heredity and environment combined to ensure that Leichhardt would never be the stereotypical Prussian as was envisaged by Chisholm (1941). Trebatsch was in the area which Saxony ceded to Prussia in 1815, and die future explorer was of mixed Saxon and Slavonic stock. According to Roderick (1988) it was this mingling of'the blood of the imaginative Slav... with diatof the practical Saxon', combined with die emotional uncertainties of his family life, which accounted for his excitable, independent spirit. That he would, in due course ' (blow) up in rebelling against die environment that would have crushed his individualism in a mould of (Prussian) authoritarianism' was, Uierefore, scarcely surprising. Ludwig's academic career began in 1821 when he was sent to boarding school in die nearby village of Zaue and continued at the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium at Cottbus three years later. Admitted to the Faculty of Philosophy at die University of Berlin in November 1831, he was to remain at diat institution for five years, apart from two semesters in 1833-4 at die University of Gottingen. Leichhardt was clearly an intelligent and diligent student. His matriculation certificate, for example, describes him as a 'distinguished and exemplary young man', a zealous if retiring person who 'mixed very little with his fellow-students but neverdieless lived sociably and peaceably with everyone'. There is also evidence of feelings of warmdi and mutual respect between Leichhardt and his lecturers. Roderick (1988, p. 51), for example, indicates diat philosopherJohann Herbart frequendy invited die young man to pay a social call at his Gottingen residence. Later, after attending classes at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, conducted by Adolphe Brongniart, Leichhardt remained in contact widi that renowed French botanist, sending him samples of fossils and of local timbers from New Soudi Wales (ibid., p. 79). Despite his earlier steady academic progress, during his tertiary studies Leichhardt began to demonstrate an academic eclecticism which, altiiough providing an enormous breadtii of expertise in the humanities and the physical and social sciences, would preclude him from gaining a formal qualification. During die summer semester at Gottingen, for example, he completed courses in natural history, botany and physics. On returning to die University of Berlin in November 1834, he diversified into madiematics, commercial studies, national economy and geography, while in September 1835 he embarked upon a programme which would qualify him for a career in public administration. Six months later, in yet another career change, 'the most illustrious Ludovicum Leichhardt' was admitted into the University of Berlin's Faculty of Medicine. Altiiough die breadth of academic learning which he was to continue to experience for a furdier five years would constitute an excellent foundation for a career as an explorer and field scientist in inland Australia, it brought litde comfort to die student's ageing father. Christian Leichhardt would scarcely have been mollified by a letter from Ludwig in 1836 in which the young man turned to metaphor in an attempt to justify what, to most members of his family, must have appeared to be outright dilettantism: The bigger the building, die longer it takes to erect. Great works have required centuries. Strassburg Cadiedral is not finished yet. (ibid., p. 63) Such a comment was not a fair assessment, however, for Leichhardt's restless pursuit of knowledge arose from a lack of a clear goal in life, radier dian to formulate an adequate personal philosophy. A firm belief in a Supreme Being was not enough in itself. Indeed, at the age of 20 he was convinced that:

54

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt To know oneself, one must also seek an understanding of the phenomenon of Nature. Through both the world of Nature and the world of Man one may come to an understanding of the meaning of life, (ibid., p. 31)

For Leichhardt in the 1830s, however, the purpose of his life proved even more elusive than its meaning. In a letter in 1834 to Englishman John Nicholson, who later completed a doctorate in oriental studies and devoted the remainder of his life to research and publication in that field, he wrote: A vague longing for foreign lands that I hear praised often possesses me; likewise a yearning for a stable everyday family circle. And so continual wavelets ... disturb the ocean of my life, (ibid., p. 57) By now Leichhardt had established a close relationship with John Nicholson's brother William, who had enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine and was sharing rooms and meals with his German friend. Without such support the young student from Trebatsch would have had to leave university and find a job, for his father was in financial difficulties and an aunt, who had agreed to pay Ludwig's bills, had died suddenly without making the necessary financial arrangements. He was therefore able to continue attending lectures but, because he paid no fees, was disqualified from sitting the examinations at the end of each semester. Not even Chisholm (1941), who belitdes Leichhardt at every turn, postulates an active homosexual relationship between Leichhardt and Nicholson. Although Roderick (1988, p. 65) concedes that 'some might incline to a different interpretation of Leichhardt's recurring changes of direction and his acceptance of the dependent role in an intimate friendship', he also dismisses the suggestion. He sees the future explorer as: ... a child of the German Romantic Revolt, reared on starry-eyed idealism and cloudy sentimentality, personally restricted by poverty, and reliant on someone else to keep him alive while he indulged in aspirations. Although Leichhardt was no womanizer, he had both a physical and a romantic interest in members of the opposite sex. In his early student days he was a shy admirer of Charlotte Bock, daughter of a local forester. While the somewhat tenuous relationship lasted for two years and Ludwig had vague ideas of marriage, his mother dissuaded him from taking such a step (ibid., pp. 31, 34). A later attachment to William Nicholson's sister Lucy proved equally fruidess, when the young woman fell in love with someone else. Leichhardt recorded his profound if transitory despair in his diary: So goes the one on whom all my hope of future domestic happiness depended. My heart runs over as I am forced to tear her image, roots and all, from my breast, (ibid., p. 85) Later attachments in Sydney, to Marianne Marlow and Emmeline Macardiur, both daughters of the local establishment, also came to naught because, in

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt

55

neither instance, was Leichhardt in any position to propose marriage. In die case of Emmeline, he confided to his brother-in-law in 1847 tfiat: I did not broach the subject to her for it did not seem proper for me to diink of marriage when I was on die verge of undertaking a hazardous journey, (ibid., p. 452) Once William Nicholson secured his medical qualification, die two young men spent four years pursuing their intellectual interests across Europe: haunting tiie scientific museums, libraries and hospitals of London and Paris; engaging in field studies in botany and geology in the Auvergne, Switzerland, Campania and Tuscany; and visiting the art galleries of Naples, Rome, Florence and Venice. Finally, in August 1841, Leichhardt decided that his future career lay in the exploration of inland Australia. Altiiough tiiis was undoubtedly a positive decision, it must be admitted that die alternatives were few. Despite the enormous scope of his knowledge, he had not qualified for a university degree; he was not a trained teacher; the diought of working as a collector of scientific specimens was repugnant; and if he returned to Prussia, he would be imprisoned for failing to complete his national military service. Therefore, with die help of William Nicholson, who paid his fare and provided him widi spending money, he left Gravesend in the Sir Edward Paget on 1 October 1841 and disembarked in Sydney on the following 14 February. Befriended by Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell and accepting die patronage of amateur botanist Lieutenant Robert Lynd, Leichhardt was readily received into the bosom of die Exclusivist branch of Sydney society. His popularity was due not only to his personal charm but also to die colonial gentry's prevailing interest in natural science. Before long, he was delivering lectures and conducting botanical and geological excursions for his new friends (ibid., pp. 162,172). Nevertheless, he was unable to find suitable employment in New South Wales. When the Superintendent of die Sydney Botanical Gardens died suddenly in 1842, for example, Governor Gipps unfortunately decided to replace him, not with a scientist but widi a gardener. Leichhardt was tiierefore ineligible for die position. He consequendy had to depend upon die generosity of Lynd and of other patrons such as the squatter brothers Walker and Helenus Scott. Meanwhile he was making increasingly extensive scientific excursions into die hinterland, culminating in an overland expedition to Brisbane early in 1843. He spent die following 12 months in die Moreton Bay region, staying widi squatters and some German missionary friends, and making an intensive study of die local Aboriginal inhabitants, geology, flora and fauna. Meanwhile, the parlous financial state of New South Wales at that time prompted die diought of a safe, well-watered route along which horses and catde could be driven to a port on the nordiern coast for export to Asian markets and indentured Asian labourers could walk soudi to dieir places of employment. As a result, pressure mounted for die exploration of the country between Brisbane and Port Essington. Leichhardt's initial interest in such an undertaking was in connection with Mitchell's proposed expedition, upon which he intended to work as a field scientist. Following Gipps' repeated refusals to provide funding for the operation, however, he decided to mount his own expedition. In mid-1844 he therefore returned to Sydney, via the Darling Downs, New England and Newcasde, to seek donations and volunteers, for he had few resources of his own. Those who volunteered to accompany him must have given Leichhardt litde cause for confidence. New chums (i.e. newly arrived setders) John Murphy and

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James Calvert, who were still in their teens, had travelled to Australia in the same ship as the expedition leader; 24-year-old John Roper had recendy lost his j o b with Walker Scott when the squatter's citrus orchard on Ash Island on the Hunter River failed; and 44-year-old convict William Phillips volunteered for the project in the hope of subsequendy receiving a conditional pardon. The Aborigine Harry Brown, of whom little is known, was also part of the original squad. In Brisbane the expedition was joined by former native policeman Charley Fisher and two others - one a black American and the other a young squatter - both of whom returned to civilization after a mere month in the bush. Finally, Gould's bird collector, John Gilbert, attached himself to the party at John Campbell's station near Toowoomba. Because of limited support in cash and kind, livestock, provisions and equipment were minimal. Thus, when the party set out fromjimbour Station, near die future setdement of Dalby, on 1 October 1844, altiiough its 17 horses and 16 bullocks were all fully laden, some of die members initially had to proceed on foot. Progress was slow because of tiieir inexperience and die nature of the terrain. It took a month to reach the Dawson Valley, and a further six weeks to come upon and cross Expedition Range. On 2 April 1845 the group camped at the junction of die Suttor and Burdekin Rivers, moving up the valley of the latter stream. After a furdier six weeks diey turned north-west, crossing the Great Divide and coming upon the headwaters of the Lynd River on 23 May. The going became easier on the plains below die point where the Lynd joined the Mitchell and, shordy afterwards, the expedition headed soutii-west, in order to head die Gulf of Carpentaria. On die evening of 28 June, when Leichhardt chose, in ignorance, to camp on a sacred ceremonial site which was probably a three-ring bora ground, diey were attacked by a group of Aborigines. Gilbert died from a spear wound to die chest and Roper and Calvert were botii seriously wounded. It was only through dieir leader's medical skill tiiat they survived. By this time die party was virtually living off the land, its only provisions being dried meat from die bullocks which were periodically slaughtered and a dwindling supply of tea. The freedom from scurvy and odier diseases of malnutrition reflected Leichhardt's capacity to identify, albeit by trial and error, edible plant materials along die route. It would be anotiier six montiis, and a continuous series of privations, before the expedition reached Port Essington on 17 December. In contrast to die subdued nature of his departure from Sydney in 1844, Leichhardt's return to tiiat city in March 1846 was well publicized and, as the leader of the longest exploration in Australia to date, he was acclaimed a hero. He immediately set about preparing for his next expedition, in which he intended to head nortii past Peak Range in Southern Central Queensland, then move west along die headwaters of the northward-flowing rivers, skirting the desert until he reached die coast of North West Australia, tiien proceeding to Perdi. Leichhardt's failure even to reach Peak Range in 1846-7 can be attributed to a number of factors, not the least of which was die quality of some of die men who accompanied him. Altiiough the explorer was later to commend die efforts of saddler James Perry, tanner and baker's assistant Henry Boecking and future Curator of die Geelong Botanical Gardens, Daniel Bunce, Aboriginal members Harry Brown and Wommai were frequendy troublesome. Furthermore, unemployed surveyor John Mann, the enormous and slodiful young squatter Hovenden Hely, and Australian Agricultural Company farm overseer Henry

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Turnbull, who deserted his post to join the expedition without informing his employers, failed to come to grips with the rigours of exploration. As a result, the large numbers of horses, mules, catde, sheep and goats accompanying die expedition were badly mishandled. In addition die rainy season was extremely severe, which not only frequendy rendered progress almost impossible, but also saw men and animals alike plagued by swarms of hornets, blowflies, sandflies and mosquitoes. As a consequence, conjunctivitis was a recurring complaint and, to cap it all, all went down with fever near the Mackenzie River. The disease has subsequendy been identified as a severe salmonella infection and attributed to the unhygienic slaughtering and incomplete drying of sheep and goat's meat at the Mackenzie River camp (Roderick, 1988, p. 454). After die expedition returned to Cecil Plains and disbanded in August 1847, Leichhardt, Bunce and Perry immediately headed west and soudi-west to die Maranoa River, in order to report on the lands which lay between the explorer's earlier route and die country recently traversed by Mitchell. Six months later Leichhardt was preparing for his final attempt to cross the continent, having assembled his party at a station on the Darling Downs near the future town of Roma. Accompanying him were two German friends Classen and Hentig, two hired bushmen Kelly and Stewart, and Aboriginals Wommai (from the previous expedition) and Billy Bombat. As the explorer expected to spend two years in die field before completing his journey, 50 bullocks, 20 mules and seven horses were taken. Leichhardt wrote a last letter to die Sydney Morning Herald from Fitzroy Downs on 4 April 1848, while waiting for die beef to dry from a recently slaughtered bullock. As Chisholm (1941, p. 248) puts it: 'Presumably he struck off into the wilds the next day. The rest is silence.' The author was correct in one sense only for, over the ensuing century-and-ahalf, much was to be spoken and written about Leichhardt's achievements, virtues and shortcomings. It has become clear, for example, diat his leadership capacities were limited. Even accepting Roderick's (1988, pp. 376-80) reasoned assessment of the physical and psychological defects of the various members of die 1844-5 expedition, the fact remains that Leichhardt was unable to transform diem into an efficient and relatively harmonious unit. In a letter to his brodier-in-law while sailing toward Torres Strait during his return from Port Essington in 1846, he writes: In my choice of associates I was most unfortunate, for they did everything diey could to make the journey unpleasant . . . The only one who nearly always behaved irreproachably towards me was another young man, Mr Calvert, who came out from England to New Holland in die ship widi me. (Letters, Vol. 3, pp. 844-5) As we have already seen, personal relationships were again a problem on die aborted 1846-7 expedition. After it was disbanded at Cecil Plains, Leichhardt wrote to hydrographer Philip Parker King on 2 August 1847: The greatest part of my party have behaved exceedingly well; Mr Mann, Mr Hely and Mr Turnbull however found it too difficult to submit to my will and to my wishes ... (Letters, Vol. 3, p. 937) Finally, one of the legends surrounding the disappearance of Leichhardt's final expedition is also based upon the leadership question. In 1871 convicted horsethief Andrew Hume claimed that, some time previously in Central Australia, he

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had met Classen, who had set out with Leichhardt in 1848 and was now living with an Aboriginal woman. Classen, he said, told him of a mutiny, the murder of Leichhardt who had died in his arms, the flight south of the mutineers and their subsequent death at the hands of the Aborigines, and his own acceptance into a local native community. The story had sufficient credibility for Hume to be sent out twice to recover relics. On the first occasion he claimed to have been successful, but to have been robbed of the evidence. On the second occasion his party failed to reach the designated area of search, all but one of its members perishing before reaching Cooper Creek (Chisholm, 1941, pp. 225-8; Roderick, 1988, p. 502).

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought Despite Leichhardt's eminence as a geographer and field scientist within Australia, a variety of factors makes it difficult to evaluate the explorer's achievements and to measure the extent of his contribution to scientific thought. Foremost among these was Leichhardt's presumed untimely death, which precluded the publication of his extensive journals of field observations. Strangely, this failure to leave a legacy of scientific writings was foreshadowed by Leichhardt. Indeed, the three-volume Letters of F. W. Ludwig Leichhardt, edited by Marcel Aurousseau, includes a comment from 1843 that: The rapidity of time reminds me of the shortness of my life and it is not so much for me to think of dying, as to think of dying without leaving something behind me that may speak for me when my ashes are driving in the wind. {Letters, Vol. 2, pp. 683-4) Unfortunately, Leichhardt's desire was denied, for time was not plentiful. During the two-and-a-half years spent in Australia between his arrival and the commencement of the Port Essington expedition, the young scientist was engaged in coming to terms with the vast expanses of trackless and frequently almost featureless bush, and in carrying out extensive field research. Furthermore, between the end of his first and the commencement of his third expedition, he spent only a further eight months in Sydney or its environs. Busy writing the journal of his first expedition and arranging for its publication, classifying and packing his botanical specimens, organizing their shipment to Europe, attending numerous civic functions, sitting for a prominent sculptor, procuring funds and selecting staff for his forthcoming expeditions, purchasing livestock and equipment, catching up with his correspondence . . . and so on, during these periods, he clearly had very littie time for scholarly writings. Thus, although Chisholm (1941) and others have criticized Leichhardt for the paucity of his scientific publications, the reasons are obvious. Of Leichhardt's published writings, the best known is his Journal ofAn Overland Expedition, being the daily record of events and scientific findings on the Port Essington Expedition. The details of lectures on various explorations and field research findings were also printed extensively in Australian newspapers. In addition he contributed a number of papers to British and European scientific journals, and his treatises on botanical, meteorological, geological and palaeontological topics were summarized and published. The second major factor rendering assessments of Leichhardt's achievements

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difficult, particularly for modern specialists, was his breadth of learning and the extremely wide range of subjects in which he could claim some expertise. Indeed, from the earliest days following his arrival in the colony in 1842, Leichhardt was working assiduously and later commented of this period that: ... My desire to become familiar with the strange world around me soon sent me out into the bush. Out there, I bagged things by the armful, eagerly collecting plants and insects, and making notes on matters of geological interest. Back in my room I've been busy drying plants, sorting insects, working up my notes and reading books about the colony ... (and trying) ... to learn all I can about colonial agriculture and cattle rearing. {Letters, Vol. 2, pp. 469, 545) It is clear, however, that by the mid-1840s the polymathic Leichhardt was already something of a scientific anachronism for, as Herschel had already pointed out: ' . . . such is science now-a-days . . . [that] no man can now hope to know more than one part of science'. Nevertheless, despite such constraints, several important examples of Leichhardt's contributions to scientific ideas and to geographic thought can be found. First, as a result of his earlier studies in thermodynamics under Antoine Cesar Becquerel, Leichhardt rejected the prevailing notion of a great Australian inland sea and was able to illustrate the shortcomings of the Rev. W.B. Clarke's somewhat confused theorizings on the subject. As his Letters point out: If it be true that the remarkable, hot north-westerly winds are masses of air which have been heated and have risen over the tropical part of New Holland, their astonishing dryness should be decisive indication of a desert in the interior of the country. For, were there an inland sea, air currents ascending as they became hotter would carry away considerable amounts of water-vapour which would inevitably separate out (be precipitated) during their descent in higher latitudes. This, however, is not the case; or at least, there is no record of hot winds having been followed by showers of rain. {Letters, Vol. 2, p. 481) Thus, as Aurousseau comments, Leichhardt was: ... the first of the Australian explorers to take the field with a sound hypothesis concerning the character of the interior of the continent. He was convinced that it was arid. Mitchell took boats with him in 1845; and Sturt never renounced his belief in the existence of an inland sea. (ibid., p. 801) In a sound example of substantiating hypotheses through field research, Leichhardt later incorporated this deduction with the findings of his first expedition, which indicated that the northern watershed almost certainly discharged into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Consequently he was able to dismiss Mitchell's belief that the Barcoo (which the Surveyor General named the Victoria) traversed the north of the continent from east to west and discharged into Joseph Bonaparte Gulf south of the site of the present city of Darwin, thereby further refuting the notions of an inland sea and a great river, both of which had intrigued geographers for over half a century. (See the article on Edward John Eyre (1815-1901) in Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies, 15 (1994), p. 37.) In this instance Leichhardt, who was without Mitchell's advantages of influence, senior governmental rank and status, made clear the delicate nature of the professional relationship between the two men:

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Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt Sir Thomas Mitchell has met with great disappointments and it will be extremely galling to h i m . . . that I - the wretched botanist - should not be wrong. If he bear his disappointment with resignation, we will praise him for what he really has contributed to geographical knowledge, for his fine surveys, and for his good barometrical observations. Let us give him what is due to him, but we shall do it no doubt with better grace if he is willing to do the same. (Letters, Vol. 3, p. 1003)

A similar example of scientific deduction can be found in Leichhardt's theory of the drainage pattern of South-Eastern and Central Queensland (ibid., p. 886). In this instance he incorporated his knowledge of the major rivers which he had discovered west of the Great Dividing Range, the topography of the country near the coast, and the location of known streams discharging into the South Pacific Ocean. Leichhardt was also acutely aware of the likelihood of finding both watercourses and rocky waterholes on the flanks of mountain ranges, and based his successful Port Essington expedition upon this geographical relationship. He also came to realize that the limited size of most of the northern rivers indicated that they did not arise 'far away in the interior' (ibid., p. 827), nor, probably, from high mountain ranges. Consequendy, on his second and third expeditions, soon after Sturt's unsuccessful search in Central Australia for the expected northsouth watershed, Leichhardt incorporated all available topographical information and planned his route accordingly. He intended, as we have seen, to follow the Mackenzie River: ... up to its head and to try, wether [sic] I can travel along die heads of the Gulf Rivers on the supposed tableland, which I am sure will be tolerably well supplied with water, if the season is in any way favourable. - At the point where the highland continues into the watershed of Arnham [sic] Land, it will to all probability send off a branch to the southward, perhaps parallel to the NW coast of Australia. I hope to find it practicable and to follow it down, as far as I can, for the goal of my next expedition is Swan River, (ibid., pp. 853-4) In doing so, Leichhardt hoped to solve in one skilfully and comprehensively planned traverse a series of major geographical questions: My intention is to go from the Victoria to the Northward, until I come to decided waters of the Gulf. If I succeed in my task, I shall solve three very interesting questions - the Northern, North-western, and Western Water Sheds, (ibid., p. 1007) That these latter two expeditions ended in failure does not detract from die importance of his dieorizings on the overall development of geographic knowledge in Australia. Leichhardt's earlier studies of geology, mineralogy and vulcanology and his field work in Western Europe were an invaluable preparation for his Australian observations. During his expeditions, he continually attempted to understand die geology of the country which he was traversing, in terms of his European experiences. The working hypodieses which he established in diis way were

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remarkable. Dr F.W. Whitehouse, for example, maintains that Leichhardt's Contributions to the Geology of New Holland, was: ... a pioneering work, extraordinarily accurate in detail, showing Leichhardt as a geologist of considerable merit and a very accurate observer. He further claims diat: Leichhardt remains to me one of our greatest explorers and one of our very few scientific explorers. In my own travels I have passed over most of the tracks mat Leichhardt pioneered; and I have been vasdy impressed by his insight and his almost invariably correct interpretation of die geological evidences he saw in tiiose times, when there were little means of correlating diem. (Letters, Vol. 2, p. 819) Natural history aside, Leichhardt had a scientist's interest in the Aboriginal people whom he encountered, frequendy recording considerable physical and ethnographic detail. Unlike most odier major explorers, however, he was prophetically aware of die seemingly inevitable cultural and physical decimation awaiting the Aborigines. Writing to his brodier-in-law Carl Schmalfuss, in May 1844, of the European colonization of the New England region, for example, he pointed out: ... already die little bands of blacks have almost completely faded away. At die very least tiieir spirit of independence has been broken, and diey accept die crumbs diat fall from die white man's table. And that will happen wherever European civilisation makes sudden contact widi savages unprepared for it. Everywhere it has been die same. Often, when I've been widi vigorous tribes [of blacks], I've diought sadly of the day diat will not be long in coming, when many of diese robust bodies will be pierced by die white man's bullet, when odiers, stricken by virulent diseases, will drag diemselves to an early grave, and when diose who survive, sickly and languishing, will finally come to begging at die white man's door or to craving for strong drink at public houses in die rising towns. (Letters, Vol. 2, p. 757)

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas The fair evaluation of Leichhardt's influence and spread of ideas requires a thorough knowledge of die hindrances which confronted him, and some understanding of his champions and detractors. For one diing, die inadequate financial foundation of his expeditions renders simple comparisons widi the achievements of his government-funded peers invalid. Whereas almost all the other major explorers at the time were liberally provided widi supplies, scientific equipment, staff, livestock and logistical support, Leichhardt's expeditions, which were privately organized, were more meagrely funded and equipped. Frequendy goods and services were supplied in lieu of cash, for which the donors were rewarded by having prominent topographic features named in dieir honour. Unfortunately, attracting private funding was not an easy task in New Soudi Wales during die 1840s, for the colony was emerging from an economic depression, and members of die establishment were loath to invest in matters scientific or intellectual.

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Indeed, on one occasion in 1842 Leichhardt commented in exasperation to his friend Dr William Litde of London, that: Since an individual of limited means can achieve his purpose only partially or slowly, and the wealthy people of Sydney are so exclusively concerned with making money, it is not astonishing that so litde is yet known about the rich world of marine life. (Letters, Vol. 2, p. 456) This shoestring approach clearly affected the quantity and quality of Leichhardt's foodstuffs, equipment and medicines. Indeed, by contemporary standards, he was frequendy critically undersupplied. One example of the paucity of the explorer's equipment can be seen in his taking only one horse-bell on the Port Essington expedition, despite such an article's value in helping locate stock which had wandered long distances in thick scrub whilst grazing overnight. By contrast, Augustus Gregory took 20 horse-bells on his 1855-6 North Australian expedition. Leichhardt's scientific equipment was similarly meagre, and the receptacles in which he preserved and protected his samples were frequently inadequate. On the Port Essington expedition, for instance, in an attempt to protect his botanical specimens from light, dust, water and buffeting, Leichhardt was forced to surround: ... the different packages with green hide, which when dry, formed a fine box round them, and protected them from the hard usage [sic] to which they were exposed. {Letters, Vol. 3, p. 869) Financial constraints similarly dictated that all members of Leichhardt's expeditions were volunteers, deficient for the most part in both bushmanship and field research skills. Thus, while Gilbert, Bunce and the Aboriginal assistants, were useful in gathering specimens, the same could not be said of most of his associates. On my expeditions almost everyone assists in collecting plants and objects of natural history; but those who are not versed in botany will only take the most showy objects; I myself look out for the less conspicuous but perhaps equally interesting, (ibid., p. 969) Consequendy, compared to the better-funded expeditions which, on occasion, included trained collectors, natural historians, botanists and geologists, as well as competent lieutenants to free the leaders from many of the everyday problems, Leichhardt was necessarily restricted in his achievements. As he pointed out to Gaetano Durando of Paris in May 1846: Mind however well, my friend, I was not the easy traveller, who has everything at hand, and can pay all his attention to botany. I was everything, leader of the party, bullock driver, having to load, and unload three bullocks sometimes several times during the day. All the cares of such a position were upon me, all the anxieties during difficulties and dangers. The arrangement of our camps, the serving out of our provisions, the killing of our bullocks, the mending of the harness, the carrying on of my log, the daibook [sic] of my route, determining the latitude and longitude, and the nighdy watches. - You will easily imagine,

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that even allowing I did my best, a man entirely given to one occupation could have done much more. {Letters, Vol. 3, p. 869) Leichhardt was also always constrained by the limited carrying capacity of his pack animals. In October 1845, for example, only two mondis short of completing his 2,500-mile Port Essington expedition, he was forced to abandon more than 4,000 complete botanical specimens after losing four horses in two days from poisoning and drowning. Should these specimens have been safely carried to their destination, Leichhardt would have been credited with die largest single collection in Australian botanical history. In short, this pioneer field scientist faced enormous difficulties and it is instructive to note his uncomplaining and humorous description of die problems confronting him. Writing in February 1844 to William Nicholson, he pointed out that: You asked me to send you skeletons, but it's not so easy to get them as you might tiiink. I'm a poor shot myself, so I have to depend on die goodwill of my hosts and die blacks. My present hosts, like me, care very little for shooting; die blacks have too good an appetite to (be willing to) part with anydiing diey kill; and besides, they eat everydiing that doesn't eat diem. They don't mind letting you have die skin of an animal if you let diem have die carcase. If I happen to be boiling flesh so diat I can separate die bones easily, diey still want me to let diem pick die bones themselves; and, as diey don't understand die importance of die smaller bones, a lot of diem get lost. - This means that I have to do everydiing myself. I've had to dry my plants, to spread my paper out and tiien to assemble it, which is no small matter widi 3 or 4 hundred plants. I've had to go into die bush to fell trees and saw specimens (of timber), and dien, if the blacks happened to bring me an animal, I've had to skin it, boil it, and clean die skeleton. The latter nearly always comes to grief and I'm almost ashamed of sending you stuffed animals and skeletons... If I can ever afford to employ an assistant you'll soon notice die difference. {Letters, Vol. 2, p. 730) Financial inadequacy aside, any evaluation of Leichhardt's influence must also be made in the knowledge that he was a controversial figure who frequendy aroused strong emotions amongst champions and detractors alike. Whereas, for example, Roderick (1988, p. 7), who to some extent has turned the weight of recent opinion back in favour of Leichhardt, comments that half-a-century ago ' . . . every schoolboy in Australia held die gaunt figure of Ludwig Leichhardt in veneration', and that his father's generation spoke of Leichhardt as die 'prince of explorers'; by contrast, Chisholm (1941, pp. xi and 338-40), claims that Leichhardt was: ... not only a poor explorer, b u t . . . in some respects was an imposter and in general, was unwordiy to rank, eidier in ability or character, widi many men who are pardy or wholly forgotten ... he was not a qualified doctor and not an accomplished scientist, and diat as an explorer he was unreliable in his data and a basely unwordiy leader and companion ... In short, Leichhardt was a misfit who ... is not a refreshing subject for contemplation. Unfortunately, much of what has been written of Leichhardt is intemperate and excessive, encompassing such intensely subjective purported personal characteristics as his depraved dietary proclivities, his selfishness and lack of

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compassion for critically-ill fellow expedition members in 1846-7, his cruelty towards his mules, his scholarly inadequacies and inaccuracies, his fraudulent claim to a medical qualification, his lack of manners and refinement once beyond civilization, and so on. Furthermore, previous researchers' criticisms have been affected by the limitations inherent in armchair history and tainted by racism. Indeed, even in his own lifetime, the explorer found it inconvenient not to be an Englishman, commenting in a letter to Durando in 1844 that: 'I am not without antagonists. They are not personal enemies but just people who object to foreigners. My friends are all excellent people' (Letters, Vol. 2, p. 778). Clearly the largely unsubstantiated nature of much of the evidence cited reveals that most previous writers have been less than impartial in presenting their cases. It is therefore fair to say that Leichhardt has been unsatisfactorily dealt with by most twentieth-century commentators. Consequently little value can be placed on their material, especially given that die findings are further muddied by distance and sheer volume. An attempt at a more balanced appraisal of Leichhardt's contributions to Australian exploration, science and field practice is available, however, in the recent research findings of Glen McLaren, summarized in a Ph. D thesis for die Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia, entided 'The development of die traditions of scientific research and bushmanship in 19di century Australia, with special reference to die contributions of Ludwig Leichhardt'. This work included intensive library research and seven mondis in the field in Queensland and die Nordiern Territory. It clearly demonstrates that, from the beginnings of European setdement to the 1890s, when large-scale, well-funded and superbly equipped scientific expeditions, staffed on occasions by universitytrained scientists, were undertaken, Leichhardt was the most competent field scientist attached to any of the major expeditions involved in die exploration of Australia. He possessed an immense capacity to travel for weeks over often flat, heavily timbered country, whilst accurately noting almost imperceptible topographic, botanic and geological changes and delimiting their regions accordingly. Simultaneously he was required to select a route, make an accurate determination of die expedition's location, collect and prepare samples, and monitor die overall condition and level of fitness of die expedition's livestock. He would later carefully record die details of each day's progress in his journal. In performing all of diese functions, the explorer demonstrated analytical and integrative skills of die highest order. Field research has also confirmed Leichhardt's skills as navigator, cartographer and selector of routes. Chisholm's (1941) assertions as to the explorer's incompetence in these matters have dierefore been refuted. Indeed, Leichhardt's results stand up well against diose of his contemporaries, many of whom were professional surveyors and Surveyors-General, frequently equipped with the best instruments available. Finally, diere is clear evidence diat Leichhardt was a creative and highly competent bushman who contributed to the overall development of diat craft in Australia. His innovations and influence on the ongoing development of exploration mobility, while not of critical importance, also warrant comment. Briefly, his Port Essington expedition was die first major activity in Australian exploration history to be fully mounted. Furthermore, through employing pack-horses and pack-bullocks, Leichhardt avoided the considerable restrictions which his contemporaries imposed upon themselves through the use of wheeled transport. In his second and diird expeditions, he introduced mules which, widi their naturally hard black hooves, superior load-carrying capacity and more robust constitution,

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were a considerable improvement. As well, by taking along a herd of bullocks, die need to carry large amounts of dried and preserved meat from the outset was obviated, so reducing the number of pack animals required. That these two latter practices gradually declined in importance does not negate Leichhardt's contribution, for he must be seen as an important transitional figure in the development of mobility in die exploration of Australia. The large-scale, unmounted, ponderous and slow-moving military style expeditions which preceded him would soon give way to much more mobile, smaller-scale operations involving fully mounted, highly professional all-horse teams. The use of native plants as a dietary supplement was an important feature of the Port Essington expedition. Because of the limited amount of provisions in tiie first place and die unexpectedly long time spent in the field, Leichhardt and his party were forced to live off die land, achieving a remarkably balanced diet in the process. As a consequence diey avoided scurvy, the insidious and crippling disease which was beginning to plague Australian explorations as dieir duration increased. On his subsequent expeditions Leichhardt, no longer so constrained by so severe a shortage of funds, was criticized for the paucity of his supplies of flour and dried vegetables. In fact die quantity of tiiese foodstuffs carried was not a function of cost, but a reflection of Leichhardt's belief that, under arduous conditions, a diet rich in farinaceous foods was not conducive to good healdi. Furthermore, as a botanist, he was able to identify those plants which should be safe to eat, dius obviating die need to carry dried vegetables. Because he was at that time the most successful explorer in Australia, his views had credence. Neverdieless, his approach to provisioning was never widely adopted for, with horses now readily available, the highly professional generation of bushmen explorers soon to succeed Leichhardt took sufficient food from die outset. While die employment of Aboriginal assistants probably reached its highest point during Mitchell's explorations of Soudi Eastern Australia in the 1830s and 1840s, Leichhardt also deployed them widi considerable effectiveness, taking advantage of their natural skills of feature recognition, tracking and hunting. As white explorers became more proficient, however, Aboriginal involvement declined. Finally, among Leichhardt's important discoveries were vast areas of wellwatered grassland and the seams of inland Queensland coal. On 12 January 1845 he noticed outcroppings of coal at die soudiern extremity of die huge Bowen basin, by the junction of die Comet and Mackenzie Rivers. He also discovered coal immediately downstream of die Roper Bar Crossing in die Nordiern Territory, but die deposit in question is yet to be exploited. Fittingly, in recognition of his successful explorations, his skilled geographic hypothesizing and his overall contribution to scientific knowledge, Leichhardt received ' . . . very flattering letters from Germany, France, and England . . . '. Furthermore, in 1847 he was awarded die Patron's Gold Medal of die Royal Geographical Society, and die Grand Prix of die French equivalent (Letters, Vol. 2, p. 791 and Vol. 3, pp. 1062 and 1064). Sadly, although on occasion the explorer was an irritatingly oblivious and unworldly man, such were his intellectual qualities diat, in die intensely pragmatic Australia of die 1840s, he periodically ached for congenial company. Indeed, the similarities with die protagonist in Patrick White's Voss (Penguin, 1957), prior to setting off on his mydio-poetic exploration of die mind, are intriguing. In a letter to William Nicholson in July 1842, for example, Leichhardt wrote:

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Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt People usually showed me the garden, conducted me through the house, talked of the pitiful state of the colony, and told me how much they wanted to get back to England. After that it was just 'small-talk', remarks about friends and enemies and children. I've always tried to get diem to raise dieir level of interest, and, as trivialities of mis kind disgust me, and there was no escape from diem, I tried my utmost to find refuge in generalities. (Letters, Vol. 2, p. 509)

Fittingly enough, as Voss lived on beyond death in his adopted country, so too does Leichhardt. What we remember most from reading of his triumphs and despairs is his indomitable spirit. As a man imbued with the courage necessary to penetrate the unknown regions of semi-arid and arid Australia, his own words form a fitting e p i t a p h : ' . . . it is in a great degree the spirit, which carries man and beast through difficulties' (Letters, Vol. 3, p. 982).

Bibliography and Sources 1. REFERENCES ON LUDWIG LEICHHARDT Aurousseau, Marcel (ed.), The Letters ofF.W. Ludwig Leichhardt, 3 vols, Cambridge, The Hakluyt Society, 1968. Chisholm, Alec H., Strange New World, 1941, reprinted as Strange Journey, 1973, Australia, Rigby Ltd. Roderick, Colin, Leichhardt the Dauntless Explorer, Nordi Ryde NSW, Angus and Robertson, 1988. 2. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORKS OF LUDWIG LEICHHARDT Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, undated facsimile, Sydney, Macarthur Press, first copy published in 1847. Aurousseau, Marcel (ed.), The Letters ofF.W. Ludwig Leichhardt, 3 vols, Cambridge, The Hakluyt Society, 1968. 'Notes on the Geology of parts of New Soudi Wales and Queensland made in 1842-3 by Ludwig Leichhardt', in Australian Almanac, 1867, pp. 29-55, trans. George H.F. Ulrich, ed. Rev. W.B. Clarke. 3. ARCHIVAL SOURCES All the archival information necessary to complete the Ph.D thesis and field research underlying this article was obtained from the Mitchell Library in Sydney, New South Wales. Microfilm copies are available of Leichhardt's field journals and maps, as well as the field diaries of several of his expedition members. Originals of some of Leichhardt's letters are in The La Trobe Library, Melbourne; other material is held at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London. William Cooper recently retired from a teaching position at the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia. Glen McLaren has been a horse-breakerfor much of his life, but has just finished writing a Ph.D on the life and contribution ofLeichhardt to the exploration and the development of bushmanship in Australia; Cooper was his supervisor. The thesis has been

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published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press as Beyond Leichhardt: Bushcraft and die Exploration of Australia.

Chronology 1813

Born 23 October, at Trebatsch

1824

Enters the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium at Cottbus

1831

Admitted to the Faculty of Philosophy at die University of Berlin 6 November

1837

Arrives in London, 18 October. Commences independent studies in medicine and natural history

1837

First recorded mention (21 October) of his intention to travel to Australia

1838

Enrols for study at die Musee d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, 20 August

1841

Sails from Gravesend in die Sir Edward Paget, 1 October

1842

Arrives at Port Jackson, New South Wales, 14 February

1843

Commences extended field research in die Moreton Bay District, 5 April

1843

Report of Select Committee on Proposed Expedition to Port Essington published in Sydney, 26 October

1844

Arrives back in Sydney, 29 May, to organize a private expedition to Port Essington

1844

Expedition sets off from Jimbour Station, 1 October

1845

John Gilbert fatally speared by Aborigines, 28 June, near die Mitchell River

1845

Expedition reaches Port Essington, 17 December

1846

Leichhardt arrives back in Sydney in the Heroine, 25 March

1846

Main party of the second expedition leaves Sydney for Moreton Bay, 1 October, in the Thistle and Cornubia

1847

Leichhardt abandons the second expedition, 20 June

1848

Leichhardt's last letter, 4 April, on die eve of die departure of die diird expedition

Peter Simon Pallas 1741-1811

Colin Thomas

The second half of the eighteenth century witnessed a remarkable upsurge in scholarly activity in the natural sciences in western and northern Europe, where augmented factual knowledge of the inorganic and organic world was being accumulated by extended field investigations of hitherto little known regions and also by concentrated library and laboratory research into the specimens brought back from such travels. In Russia during the reign of Peter I closer contacts with economic, technological and intellectual developments in the west had been facilitated by a deliberate programme of foreign excursions on the part of state functionaries and exceptionally gifted students. Under Catherine II a reverse process attracted many western scientists, especially from Scandinavia, France and Germany, to transmit their ideas to a country still lagging in its educational level, and simultaneously to explore the vast territories of Eurasia, as yet only weakly assimilated politically into the empire, which contrasted profoundly with peninsular Europe in ethnic, social and cultural characteristics, as in their physical environments. P.S. Pallas personified these trends in the fusion of experiences and primary exploration, and emerged as an immensely respected and influential figure in natural science in early modern Russia.

1. Education, Life and Work Pallas was born in Berlin on 22 September 1741, the younger son of Simon Pallas (1694-1770), an eminent physician of Prussian origin, and his wife Suzanna Leonard, whose family was of French extraction. As Professor of Surgery at the Berlin Medical-Surgical College, a practising surgeon in the city's Charity Hospital and author of several texts on medicine, his father naturally hoped that bodi Peter and his brother August Friedrich would follow similar careers. Conse-

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quently, they were initially tutored at home and acquired a sound knowledge of Latin, English and French in addition to their native German language. At the age of 13 the precocious Peter had already begun attending classes at the MedicalSurgical College, where he was instructed in botany by Professor Johann-Gottlieb Gleditsch (who had been appointed director of the Berlin botanical gardens in 1746), and taught himself zoology. In the winter of 1758-9 he continued his education, especially in mathematics and physics, at Halle and the following summer widened his library researches at the University of Gottingen. Probably the most significant advance in his scholarly career occurred when he moved to Holland, at that time not only a fulcrum of European intellectual life but also a dynamic centre of world trade. An outstanding cluster of academic institutions, natural history museums and libraries gave him access to both the mental stimuli and the collections of specimens which were essential for his scientific development, with the result that at the University of Leiden in December 1760 he successfully defended his doctoral thesis, De infestis inventions intra inventia, a study of parasites in human beings, during the course of which he improved on Linnaeus' classification of worms. In accordance with his father's wishes, in July 1761 Pallas travelled to England in order to learn more of current best practice in hospitals there. However, his own independence of mind was already becoming evident in action as well as thought and his growing interest in wider branches of natural history led him to establish contact with distinguished zoologists in London and Oxford, while excursions to the coastal districts of Sussex and Essex gave him particular pleasure. Among numerous acquaintances whose company and hospitality proved especially congenial, several were to become long-term friends and influential correspondents. For example, in the year of Pallas' birth, Henry Baker had been elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Society for his pioneering research into microscopes. Another FRS, John Ellis, was a London merchant's agent who had already published a book on corals and came to possess a considerable knowledge of seeds imported from the Caribbean archipelago through his business dealings. Yet a third FRS, the Swede Daniel Charles Solander, had actually been tutored by Linnaeus, who had in turn introduced him to Ellis and the botanist Peter Collinson. Solander, like Pallas, a graduate in medicine, was recommended by Linnaeus in September 1762 for the chair of botany at the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences but had been dissuaded from accepting the post by Collinson, who advised him to become curator of the Duchess of Portland's extensive natural history museum instead. The following year Solander was appointed assistant librarian at the British Museum and began to catalogue its collections, while five years later he was to accompany Joseph Banks on Captain James Cook's voyage on the Endeavour. During his period of foreign travel Pallas' relationship with his father appears to have been slightly strained over the issue of his future career as a surgeon in the Prussian army. When the Seven Years' War was brought to an end by the Treaty of Paris in February 1763, Pallas returned to Berlin and resumed his studies in entomology that had begun almost a decade earlier. By now paternal resistance to his profound involvement in natural science had weakened to such an extent that in 1764 he finally obtained some measure of approval for a return to The Hague where the immense riches of Dutch commercial enterprise, in the form of tropical flora and fauna brought back from the colonies, awaited his systematic curiosity. Having failed to convince the Dutch authorities of the merits of an expedition either to South America or to the Cape and the East Indies, a project

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which also met with his father's opposition, he once again returned to Berlin, where he married in 1767. However, that second visit to Holland did have several positive results. On a personal level he met and became firm friends with the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant, who was himself in correspondence with Linnaeus and who had recendy stayed widi Count Buffon and Voltaire in die course of completing his four-volume British Zoology, and coincidentally was admitted to the Royal Society at almost die same dme as Pallas left for home on what proved to be a fateful journey east. Even at diat dme Pennant had recognized die excepdonal talents of the young German and had encouraged him to elaborate John Ray's classification of quadrupeds to which Pennant's own work adhered. Meanwhile, die initial fruits of Pallas' intense activity were revealed in 1766 through his publication of Elenchus Zoophytorum and Miscellanea Zoologica. Aldiough mildly critical of Ellis and even die great Linnaeus, his mastery of detail and immensely careful description of plants and animals, embracing an holistic view of nature, bestowed virtually instantaneous fame. In April 1767 he was invited to join die Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg with die tide of Professor of Natural History and rank of collegiate assessor and, after some hesitation, two mondis later he set out for Russia on what transpired to be a sojourn of more than 40 years. An influential figure in tiiis course of events seems to have been Christian Gotdieb Ludwig, Professor of Medicine at Leipzig, who had produced a study of marine plants in 1736, and who is believed to have recommended Pallas to the Academy, on behalf of which a formal invitation was issued by academician Jakob Stahlin. Witiiin eight months of arriving in St Petersburg, at die age of 27, Pallas found himself in possession of a commission from the Empress Catherine II to join an expedition of die Imperial Academy to explore eastern Russia and Siberia. A full appreciation of die importance of such a task requires an awareness of die contemporary cultural history of Russia and of the institution itself. Prior to die accession of Peter die Great in 1682 Russia had remained relatively isolated from intellectual, economic and social trends in western Europe by sheer distance, its spoken language and extremely restricted literacy, its religion and customs, and its own Asiatic political preoccupations. The creation of a new capital in St Petersburg and increased encouragement to establish direct links widi die maritime states of Adantic Europe promoted closer cultural relations, at least among die nobility which subsequendy became distincdy francophone. At the very end of Tsar Peter's life die desire to assimilate western ideas more systematically culminated in the establishment of an Academy of Sciences on the Parisian model. Pardy by design, and in die absence of a large indigenous educated elite, the foremost scientists to be attracted to that institution were of German origin, and it was against that background that Pallas found himself travelling east in die early summer of 1767. A synchronized and integral element of such developments was the stimulation of a need to discover and, where possible, to exploit Russia's material resources, a feature which clearly entailed practical benefits for a state eager to be respected by its technologically and economically more advanced, and militarily more powerful, neighbours, and which fortuitously coincided with an efflorescence of interest in die natural sciences. The expedition was in reality composed of five detachments, whose membership included I.I. Lepekhin, J.P. Falk, J.G. Georgi, S.G. Gmelin, J.A. Guldenstadt, N. RychkovandV.F. Zuev. Having spent the previous winter in preparation, on 21 June 1768 Pallas and his group travelled via Moscow and Simbirsk across die Kalmyk steppes to die shores of die Caspian Sea, across the southern Ural

Peter Simon Pallas

71

Mountains and on through Omsk, Tomsk and Krasnoyarsk to Lake Baykal, and reaching Kyakhta on the Chinese border in April 1772, and returned through Krasnoyarsk, Sarapul and Tsaritsyn to St Petersburg by 30 June 1774. At the end of that epic journey, Pallas - and, no doubt, other members of the team emerged physically exhausted; he himself was described as grey-haired at the age of 33 and from his diaries it is known that he had suffered severe attacks of dysentery and inflammation of the eyes, conditions that plagued him for the rest of his life. From his letters to Pennant, it appears that he intended embarking upon a three- or four-month journey to Siberia with Count Aleksandr Stroganov in the summer of 1781, with the main aim of collecting geological samples from Urals mines. For reasons that are not entirely clear, he parted from that group in Moscow and soon returned to St Petersburg. The two decades after 1774, characterized by Raykov as his 'St Petersburg period', were taken up with processing and analysing the results of the first expedition. That in itself was a formidable and lasting achievement insofar as specimens were described, catalogued and preserved in natural history collections in Russia, with duplicate items being exchanged with colleagues elsewhere in Europe. A remarkable series of publications also flowed from his pen at this time. By early February 1776 he had completed the three-volume German-language text of an account of die Siberian expedition. In the autumn of 1777 he finished Novae species Quadrupedum e Glirium ordine, a pioneering, and for long unequalled, monograph on die anatomy and ecology of rodents which used evidence drawn from his own observations of diem made during his travels, and in the same year he was appointed to the Cartography Commission, the purpose of which was to provide an accurate description of Russia. Reverting to his former entomological interests, which simultaneously offered an opportunity for vivid visual presentation, in 1781 he issued two parts of Icones Insectorum praesertim Rossiae Sibiriaesque peculiarium, but parts of die third issue were lost in transit to the printers in Erlangen. Throughout this phase of frenetic activity Pallas contributed numerous shorter articles to the Academy of Sciences' Acta (Abhandlungen) and to Neue nordischen Beitrage, many of the latter summarizing or translating the journals written by contemporary explorers of eastern Siberia and die northern Pacific coasts such as Krenitsyn and Levashev, Bragin, Solov'ev, Zaykov, and Kobelev. As an attempt at a coherent overview of current knowledge of the Russian empire's vegetation in 1784-8 there appeared in St Petersburg the splendidly illustrated two-volume Flora Rossica, which remained a standard reference for many years, not least because of its valuable insights into comparisons and contrasts between species found in the western and eastern regions of diat vast territory. More specialized was the monograph Species astragalorum (1780), which contained details of no fewer than 40 new types and was again extensively illustrated with engravings from nature, a feature repeated in 1803 with the publication of Mustrationes plantarum, for which the artistic content was contributed by the companion of his Krimean travels, Geissler. In contrast to these primarily botanical studies, in 1787 and 1789 Pallas wrote two sections of an incomplete three-part project entitled Linguarum Totius Orbis Vocabularia Comparativa, which had been specially commissioned by Catherine II. Here, too, the raw material had been collected during die 1768-74 expedition across the multinational empire; several of the diaries and accounts included word lists from the languages of the indigenous peoples encountered, together with their Russian equivalents. Personal isolation in the Academy, irritation with the need to affect die manners and superficiality of the court circle, die death of his first wife in 1782

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Peter Simon Pallas

and concern over his own recurrent ill-health, all intensified Pallas' growing weariness with urban life in St Petersburg. Consequendy, on 1 February 1793, accompanied by his second wife, his daughter and die Leipzig artist C.G.H. Geissler, he set out from the capital on his last greatjourney of exploration. Their route passed through Penza, where he compiled an account of die province's natural conditions, the German colony of Tsaritsyn, across die Volga to Sarepta, where dieir progress was interrupted until his daughter recovered from smallpox, contracted during an epidemic which had broken out while they passed dirough Astrakhan, and into die Kirgiz steppes. There he took die opportunity to collect furdier evidence to confirm his earlier notions on die changing level of die Caspian Sea and proceeded through the Kuban. After further halts at Georgievsk, Cherkassk, Taganrog and Mariupol', at the end of October the party eventually reached its winter quarters at Simferopol'. Early in March 1794 die excursion resumed in a four-month tour of die Krimean peninsula, his description of which ranges widi equally vivid insights from geological successions, climatic conditions, flora and fauna, dirough die remains of classical antiquity, traditional Tatar pastoralism and Russian-induced agricultural innovations, to physical and cultural anthropology, folk costume and crafts, transport, communications, industries and urban setdements. Particularly sympadietic and colourful were his detailed verbal sketches, often illustrated by Geissler's coloured vignettes, of die towns of Astrakhan, Taganrog, Simferopol', Bakhchisarai, and Sevastopol', aldiough he was not averse to commenting adversely on the squalor of some Tatar suburbs. The prevailing tone of his description reveals that, despite minor irritation with individuals or inconvenience and discomfort induced by die poor quality of roads, Pallas tiioroughly enjoyed diis lively atmosphere of a rapidly changing society, economy and landscape in a district diat had been annexed by Russia as recendy as April 1783. Moreover, he felt tiiat certain localities offered such an amenable climate diat his healdi would surely improve if he were to be granted permission to setde there. The Empress Cadierine's response to his request exceeded his hopes and expectations for she granted him a series of estates, vineyards in Sudak and a house in Simferopol'. Protracted litigation with neighbours over agricultural matters, separation from cultivated society in this remote southern province and attacks of malaria, together with recurrences of earlier ailments, brought disenchantment in his declining years and in 1810 he petitioned Tsar Alexander to allow him to leave Russia for his native Berlin. There, at the home of his brotiier and cared for by his widowed daughter, he died die following year.

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought Such was die scope of Pallas' scholarly activity that his contributions to scientific knowledge and tiiought need be considered under several broad, multidisciplinary, tiiough interrelated, diemes. First, there can be litde doubt that his early training in anatomy had an enduring influence on his later scientific outlook and work. Above all, its mediodology had placed primary emphasis on meticulous accuracy in both verbal and visual description. In particular, minute attention to detail encouraged die young student to seek out critically significant points of similarity and contrast between phenomena diat might indicate more profound sources of

Peter Simon Pallas

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distinction for the purposes of their classification. Analytical research based on a combination of the external appearance, internal structure and functioning components of life forms may have been ideal for contemporary biology, but it did not, of course, mean that the same methods were entirely appropriate for geographical studies. One severe limitation was the scale of investigation, most notably that concerning individual types of organism, such as his youthful experimental work on the anatomy and behaviour of caterpillars, which paralleled, for example, that of Collinson on the metamorphosis of insects. In addition, the impact of external, or broader interactive, ecological, relationships of phenomena needed to be considered. Further, an understanding of spatial aspects of both the inorganic and organic world expanded his intellectual approach. Finally, it was almost inevitable, given his family background and initial education in medicine, that a practical concern for mankind should be incorporated in his scheme of ideas. All of these developments in Pallas' thought may be attributed to his exploration experiences in Siberia and southern Russia. Second, while any exercise in classification tends to imply a static approach to the phenomena being discussed, one related question to be posed is that of the source of such variation or apparent hierarchical pattern. In turn, an underlying issue which usually arises concerns the possible developmental relationships between different levels in the schema. Indeed, in a general way innumerable facets of Pallas' writings may be seen to reflect a progressive awareness of change, and by implication a curiosity about formative processes in nature. That view, it must be emphasized, was not always present, but indicates an appreciable shift in attitude as a result of increased knowledge and intellectual maturity later in life. In biology Pallas has been ranked, somewhat flatteringly, alongside Linnaeus and Buffon, yet it is often extremely difficult to detect with clarity his own original contribution to their debates. He accepted in oudine two key concepts that can be traced from classical times to the mid-eighteenth century, namely the existence of an Aristotelian 'chain of life', which had recendy been revived in Charles Bonnet's Contemplation de la Nature (Amsterdam, 1764) and a vague notion of a genealogical tree. On die details and operation of each he was ambivalent, as indeed, at times, were his more famous contemporaries. Differences had arisen over acknowledgement of an over-arching divine plan and whether die infinite range of species which could be observed had been created as immutable forms at a single moment in time. Linnaeus' Systema Naturae (1735) had been resolutely rooted in the Biblical version of the Creation, and was derived in part from Ray's Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation (1691); Buffon's philosophically more expansive Histoire naturelle (1749-1804) offered a more sceptical outlook which probed the causes of inter-species variation, the possibility of long-term transformation and the role of mankind in stimulating hybridization, for instance between wild and domesticated animals. Anomer philosophical question concerned the purpose and validity of classification in nature, and hence the relationships between members of categories. Did such groups represent steps in an hierarchy or merely artificial divisions in a continuous gradation of forms? Were there developmental implications in either view? On many of these issues Pallas was critical of Linnaeus and Buffon, adopting either a median position or else changing his opinion over time, and it must be conceded that in Russia, as in France, the conservative influence of die Church was perhaps a powerful factor in shaping what could or could not be expressed in print or professed publicly. In addition to prevailing, if contrasting, theology in European countries, the state of scientific knowledge on these matters also

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Peter Simon Pallas

proved to be a constraint, and it was not until after the middle of the nineteenth century that valid answers could be sought and provided by the advances in geology, biology and archaeology, all of which ultimately embraced aspects of Darwinism. Third, Pallas saw the classification of life forms essentially in terms of habitats. During his travels in Siberia he had the good fortune to be shown not only the bones of a mammoth but also the remarkably preserved remains of a woolly rhinoceros, obviously far removed from the domains of comparable large tropical mammals at that time. Such discoveries inevitably prompted consideration of relationships between fauna and flora on the one hand and climate on the other, leading to wider speculation as to the extent and character of regional, if not global, environmental change. He also found intriguing the existence of seals in Lake Baykal and the Caspian Sea, so far from the Arctic Ocean and the Black Sea, respectively. In a letter written in August 1778 to Pennant, himself preparing his two-volume Arctic Zoology (1784-7), Pallas supposed them to be 'relics of a great deluge that covered the whole country', thus indicating that in some respects he then favoured a version of Cuvier's catastrophe thesis in explaining the extinction or emergence of species, though not necessarily the German geologist A.G. Werner's extreme Neptunist beliefs in the aqueous origin of rocks. In several branches of geographical enquiry it has been shown that the specific context of primary research has often contributed to the formulation of theory itself, in the sense that a change in scale itself has enabled the investigator to see beyond features of merely local significance to causal relationships that possess universal applicability. Undoubtedly, Pallas' capacity to assimilate diverse evidence from a range of natural sciences and contrasting spatial settings provides such an example. As a geologist, it has been claimed by Belousov that Pallas' name stands alongside that of the Genevan H.B. de Saussure in the heroic age of geological research in the last quarter of the eighteenth century when the literal Biblical version of the Earth's history was being questioned by new concepts in stratigraphy and palaeontology. The parallel is an interesting one insofar as Saussure had proceeded with much the same set of ideas that underpinned James Hutton's Theory of the Earth (1795), namely that evidence existed not for a single great flood, but rather for innumerable depositional phases, each characterized by an indicative fossil record, and that sedimentary strata had subsequently been contorted and metamorphosed by pressure and heat, and finally weathered and eroded by chemical and physical processes that were still in operation. Saussure's interpretation of forces shaping the structure and surface of the Earth, however valuable, had been limited by his restricted field experience in the Swiss Alps, Jura and Vosges, although he had also climbed Vesuvius and Etna. His technique, therefore, was to document structures with immense care and liberal use of explanatory sketches, and in other spheres such as meteorology to rely on instrumental data. Pallas' method, perhaps moulded by the vast expanse of open territory that he had covered, was to seek distributional similarities and analogues, while in meteorology he resorted more to phenological indicators rather than systematic observations of temperature, pressure, precipitation and so on. In observing the onset of spring along the Volga in March and April 1793 he did not record daily thermometer readings, but chronicled the transformation by describing the gradual melting of ice on the river, the appearance of wild flowers and the northward migrations of birds. Whereas Saussure had advanced the notion that glaciation in the Alps had formerly been more extensive, on the basis of studies of smooth striated rocks below the snouts of contemporary glaciers and frost-

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shattered peaks above them, Pallas was content to note on his journey souuh from Moscow that granite boulders, which lay in profusion to the north, were rarely to be found south of the Valday Hills, but he did not pursue the inference that such a distribution might have been pardy the result of glacial deposition limits. In one other realm, however, Cuvier believed that Pallas' great breadth of vision had influenced Saussure and Werner. On his return from Siberia in June 1777 Pallas published an article in the Academy's Acta in which he set out his reflections on the formation of the Ural and Altay mountains, and by extension on the whole process of orogenesis. In essence he hypothesized granitic cores, containing no fossils, sometimes occurring as islands in shallow seas. Gradually their surface would be broken down into fragments which would become deposited on their margins and tiien overlain by sedimentary strata on the adjacent sea bed. In due course these secondary layers, especially fossil-bearing shales and limestones, would be augmented by tertiary sandstones and marls and the whole mass might be uplifted by volcanic or tectonic movements to emerge as dry land. While reinforcing the direction of contemporary thought, tfiese theories were very much a product of the primitive investigative methods of the time and are now of only historical interest, though Pallas should be given credit for recognizing that geological strata represented 'nature's archives'. Of rather more enduring importance was the attention which he focused on meso- and micro-scale terrestrial phenomena. Prolonged familiarity with the monotonous landscape of the southern steppes, combined with observation of agricultural practices among the Tatars in New Russia and Krimea, suggested to him that human activity had certainly contributed substantially to removal of forest and scrub from these now treeless plains, and he also believed diat the high humus content of their black eardi soils was derived from that former woodland cover. Other factors such as climatic-vegetation zonation and climatic change did not feature significantly in his interpretation, although those very same forces were acknowledged and invoked when discussing other regional scientific problems. For example, in his travel journals he repeatedly argued the case for conceiving of an ancient link between the Caspian and Black Seas through the Manych Depression. As evidence in support of diat thesis he cited innumerable examples of horizontal strata containing fossilized bivalve marine shells, dien lying beneath more recent deposits, themselves topped by soil layers and turf. Topographic features, too, suggested ancient shorelines elevated either by tectonic activity, as near Baku, or else by evaporation of the once more extensive seas and lakes. In producing evidence diat the water level of the Volga had fluctuated widely even between 1775 and 1792, he tacitly recognized that climatic effects on hydrological regimes might help to explain the changing extent of the Caspian Sea. By advocating an 'accurate mensuration' of the land between the soudiern Urals and the Sea of Azov he pointed to yet another potential source of proof of his theory that at some unspecified era in the past a great gulf extended from the Mediterranean-Black Sea shores eastwards, possibly as far as the Aral Sea. That such a period may have pre-dated human occupation of the terrain by only a short interval was inferred from reports by classical writers such as Strabo that invasions from the east had been impeded by tracts of marsh that now formed dry valleys. Minor features associated with this topic in palaeo-geography were the salt lakes encountered diroughout the steppes and coastal fringes of southern Russia. By the time of his travels in the 1790s these had already become profitable economic resources, exploited by die Tatars, their produce being traded far inland to the north and also abroad by sea. Yet die commercial importance of

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current salt-working and its enlarged future development were not the only reasons why Pallas made prolonged excursions to many such sites; inevitably he was intrigued by the varied origins of these phenomena and speculated on whether particular cases had been the result of accumulation from active saline springs or, alternatively, from former coastal embayments whose entrances to the open sea had been cut off by the action of waves in creating gravel banks, or changes in sea level, to create lagoons whose water content had been reduced by evaporation. Another curiosity that stimulated his observant eye and provoked his imagination was the incidence of mud volcanoes and bitumen eruptions on the Kerch peninsula and offshore in the Sea of Azov. Like Gmelin and Muller before him, Pallas often deliberately sought to assimilate previously acquired knowledge of the lands he explored. Just as Muller had expended much time and effort accumulating historical documents in Siberia, Pallas blended the collection of written accounts by earlier travellers with interviews with merchants, sailors, Cossacks and peasants on agricultural and trading conditions on the margins of the empire. With regard to the configuration of the northern Pacific coast, painstaking scrutiny of the journals and comparison of manuscript maps convinced him of the inaccuracies contained in some navigators' accounts of voyages from Okhotsk and Kamchatka dirough the Aleutian Islands in search of either the North American mainland or a sea passage between the two continents. He concluded that compass bearings made by some of them were in error, as were dieir accounts of the size and shape of the islands, and he took particular interest in the fate of Cook's voyage which confirmed his own belief in the existence of open sea separating the Polar ice from the north Pacific and hence also Asia from Alaska. In ethnography Pallas appreciated the significance of recording valuable observations made by fellow explorers in the Kurile Islands and also compiled a list of native peoples of the north Caucasus region in 1793, with estimates of their respective-population totals and notes on their cultural peculiarities. As such, the former represent some of die earliest reliable descriptions of the inhabitants of the Nordi Pacific islands. Moreover, during his travels along the lower Volga he reported the size and composition of pioneer German colonies there, together with accounts of the distinctive features of their economic life. Many of those observations would now be considered ethnocentric in tone, to say the least; for example, his disparaging remarks about what he perceived as die Tatars' idle way of life, and negative aspects of their use of local resources, contrast sharply with his unqualified praise for the business acumen of Greek and Armenian groups in south Russia in tiieir promotion of commerce and silk-worm breeding, respectively. In the same region his cultural sensitivities, as well as his historical awareness, were aroused when he became alerted to frequent examples of die destruction of Tatar and Kalmyk mosques, cemeteries and monuments, the stonework of which was being plundered for domestic buildings, in die wake of die fall of the Krimean khanate. It genuinely distressed him to record diat cultural features were being removed, not only by 'die toodi of time' but also by 'die depredations of die vulgar'. His familiarity with die accounts prepared by writers of the classical period gave added depdi to his search for, and description of, ruins dating from the Greek colonization of die Black Sea shores. From anodier direction, his fascination widi unfamiliar lifestyles, languages, costumes and beliefs drew him to relics of die more recent Tatar occupation of die Krimean peninsula and the adjacent steppes. The result was that he noted die seasonal migratory movements of die Nogay with their herds and flocks, as well as die sedentary cultivation

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practised by the Krimean Tatars, and the ways in which some peoples had been partly absorbed into a European economic and cultural milieu, while others clung to tradition. Conversely, in the southern Russia of the 1790s, then undergoing spectacular transformations, Pallas had abundant opportunities to evaluate state and private initiatives and to set out his own recommendations for future economic growth. Many early naturalists combined a medical training with an amateur interest in botany through a study of plants that possessed beneficial properties in die treatment of human ailments. Logically, those concerns were broadened to include food plants and, from personal contacts made during his youthful west European travels, subsequent correspondence and observation of various methods employed by peoples encountered in Russia, Pallas developed a practical knowledge of cultivation, for instance of vines, that was later put to good use on his own estates in Krimea. Crop rotations and yields, irrigation and fertilizers, tillage implements, breeds of livestock, all found a place in his travel journals, where description seldom passed without appraisal and advice on where and how superior practice could be extended to hitherto under-utilized areas of appropriate soils and climate. Not least among his motives in this approach was the desire to encourage the general economic welfare and efficiency of the Russian state. Statistical information on Russia's external trade, even down to the level of commodities shipped through specific ports or inland cities, brought the realization that considerable sums could be saved by the treasury if agriculture, forestry, extractive industry and manufacturing could be intensified for the purpose of import substitution. Afforestation, particularly with oak, beech, ash and elm in the semi-arid steppes, would alleviate soil erosion, protect crops and eventually provide much-needed fuel in those regions; breeding of Spanish or Bulgarian sheep could raise the quality and quantity of wool production; widespread encouragement of silkworm breeding would lead to employment of women and children and reduce dependency on expensive imports from the Caucasus, Persia and central Asia; adoption of Armenian, Italian, Georgian and Greek methods of irrigated horticulture would increase the supply of fruit and vegetables; setdement of foreign specialists would extend viticulture; controlled goat breeding could support superior leather crafts. Any examples of innovation and improvement were praised and he singled out several of the nobility, such as Admiral N.S. Mordvinov, Count Apollon Musin-Pushkin, Prince Potemkin and General de Schiitz, whose estates were models of enterprise and successful experimentation.

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas In the narrow realm of exploration and discovery his leadership of the expedition to Siberia clearly followed and extended the achievement of Russian travellers of an earlier and more difficult period. Simultaneously, it must be acknowledged that his persistent spirit of enquiry and organized method of procedure set the standard for future expeditions mounted by the Imperial Russian, and later Soviet, Academy of Sciences through to the twentieth century, although subsequent initiatives tended to be increasingly specialized in their objectives as they become technically more sophisticated. That trend was carried out in die Academy and later in the Russian Geographical Society, institutions that in the

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nineteenth century were both to experience nationalist feuds that sought to diminish the role of foreigners in the intellectual life of the country. Nevertheless, while citizens of maritime west European states were elucidating the great mysteries of the coasts and interiors of the Americas, Africa and Australasia, Pallas, his contemporaries and successors achieved equal fame in northern and eastern Asia. Apart from his own overland journeys in 1768-74, Pallas showed prolonged interest in Russian exploration of the north Pacific, and in particular the search to establish whether or not there existed a land bridge to America. Knowledge of the remarkable journeys made by Vitus Bering, M.S. Gvozdev, P.K. Krenitsyn and Mikhail Levashev were slow to reach the non-Russian world, partly as a consequence of the secrecy with which they were guarded by the state. Pallas' translations of some of these travellers' journals, which were published in Neue nordische Beitrage, therefore represent noteworthy sources for the history of global exploration and the historical geography of the nature and cultures of Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands. Almost immediately some of these compilations, together with those of G.F. Miiller, were sent to the amateur historian and traveller Archdeacon William Coxe, whom both had met in Moscow and who published summaries in English, thereby enabling them to reach a much larger readership. Pallas' contribution to that sphere of academic endeavour has been secured by a tradition of citing his essays, for example by historiographers of Russian geography such as LP. Gerasimov and L.S. Berg, and in the publication by A.V. Yefimov of the Atlas geograficheskikh otkrytiy v Sibiri i v severo-zapadnoy Amerike (Atlas of Geographical Discoveries in Siberia and North-west America, Moscow, 1964). More specifically, on a local scale, especially in his description of southern Russia and the Krimean peninsula, Pallas may be seen as the forerunner of the authors of regional monographs, within which he also initiated investigation into several distinctive features of the physical landscape, notably salt lakes and mud eruptions. One reason why the name of Peter Pallas is relatively unknown outside Russia, or indeed beyond the sphere of scholars concerned with eighteenth-century natural science, is that he never held a teaching appointment and therefore did not develop a cadre of able students to perpetuate and elaborate his ideas. The fact that he spent almost the whole of his career in Russia proved no great handicap in relation to parallel scholarship in western Europe because virtually all his publications were soon translated into English, French or German, if not originally written in those languages. Indeed, many articles first appeared in print in Germany in Neue nordische Beitrage, and in that context a crucial intermediary and publicist was Anton Biisching. Most significantly of all, Pallas' correspondence over a period of half a century was so extensive that his discoveries and ideas were transmitted not only to eminent scientists such as Linnaeus, Buffon and Pennant, but even to otherwise little known collectors of zoological, botanical and mineralogical specimens. Even at home in Moscow or St Petersburg his hospitality to visitors from other countries consolidated his international reputation, at least during his lifetime. Like all truly great scientists and scholars, Pallas willingly acknowledged his intellectual debts to those whose work had inspired his own, and his critical appraisal of them was invariably constructive and balanced. Undoubtedly, that personal characteristic of generosity of spirit, accompanied by a keen preoccupation with a quest for knowledge and understanding, served to enlarge his own achievement and simultaneously to enlighten colleagues who were investigating the same or related topics.

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Bibliography and Sources 1. REFERENCES ONP.S. PALLAS A brief summary of his life and work appears in the Brokgaus and Efron Entsiklopedicheskiy slovar, St Petersburg, 44, 641-2. An obituary appeared in Allgemeine Zeitung, 281, October 1811, and a longer appreciation by Georges Cuvier in his Eloges historiques, II, Paris, 1819, 161-194. Beloussov, V.V., 'P.S. Pallas - puteshestvennik i geolog', Priroda, 1941, No. 3, 111-16. Markevich, A., 'Akademik P.S. Pallas. Ego zhizn', prebyvanie vKrymu i uchenie trudy', Izvestiya Tavricheskoy uchenoy arkhivnoy komissii, XLVII, 1912, 167-242. Masterson, J.R. and Bower, H. 'Bering's Successors, 1745-1780. Contributions of Peter Simon Pallas to the History of Russian Exploration towards Alaska', Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 38, 1947, 35-83 and 109-55. Ratzel, F., 'Peter Simon Pallas', Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 25, Berlin, 1887, 81-98. Raykov, B.Ye., Russkie biologii-evolyutsionisty do Darvina: materialy k istorii evolyutsionnoy idei v Rossii, Moscow-Leningrad Izdaniya Akademiya Nauka, 1952, Vol. 1, 42-105. Rudolphi, K.A., Peter Simon Pallas, Ein biographischer Bersuch, Berlin, 1812. Urness, C. (ed.), A Naturalist in Russia: Letters from Peter Simon Pallas to Thomas Pennant, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1967. 2. SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY 1766

Elenchus Zoophytorum, sistens generum adumbrationes generaliores et specierum cognitarum succinctas descriptiones, The Hague. A Dutch translation appeared in 1768, and a two-volume German edition in 1787.

1766

Miscellanea Zoologica, quibus novae imprimis atque obscurae animalium species describuntur, The Hague. A Dutch translation was published in Utrecht in 1770 and a French one in 1777.

1767-9

Spicilegia Zoologica, 2 vols, Berlin. The work was partly translated into German in 1769-78 and into Dutch in 1770.

1771-6

Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs in den Jahren 1768-73, 3 vols, St Petersburg. A three-volume German edition was published in Frankfurt and Leipzig in 1776-8, a French version in Paris in 1778-98, and an Italian translation in Milan in 1816. The first Russian translation appeared in St Petersburg in three volumes in 1773-88.

1777

'Observations sur la formation des montagnes et sur les changements arrives au Globe, particulierement a regard de l'Europe de Russie', Acta Academiae Scient. Petropolitanae, 1, 21-64.

1778

Novae species Quadrupedum e Glirium ordine, Erlangen.

1780

Species Astragalomm descriptae et iconibus coloratis illustratae, Leipzig.

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1784-8

Flora Rossica, seu stirpium Imperii Rossici perEuropam et Asiam indigenarum descriptiones et icones, 2 vols, St Petersburg.

1786-9

Linguarum totius orbis vocabularia comparativa, 2 parts, St Petersburg.

1799-1801 Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in die siidlichen Statthalterschaften des Russischen Reichs in denjahren 1793 und 1794,2 vols, Leipzig. This work was translated into French and first published in Paris in 1799-1801; an English edition appeared in London in 1802-3. 1803

Rlustrationes plantarum imperfecte vel nondum cognitarum.

1811-31

Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica sistens omnium animalium in extenso Imperio Rossico et adjacentis maribus observatorum recensionem domicilia, mores, et descriptiones, anatomen atque icones pluriorum, 3 vols, St Petersburg.

Pallas contributed numerous articles to the Neue nordische Beitrdge zur physikalische und geographische Erd- und Volkerbeschreibung Naturgeschichte und Oekonomie (St Petersburg and Leipzig, 1781-96) and to the first six parts of Stralsundische Magazin (Berlin and Stralsund, 1767-70). He edited the travel journals of Gmelin, Guldenstadt, Messerschmidt and Steller. A full bibliography of his writings compiled by F.P. Koppen may be found in 'Uchenye trudy Pallasa', Zhurnal Ministerstvo Narodnogo Prosveshcheniya, 298 (2), April 1895, 386-437, while an earlier bibliography was published by Pallas' friend and biographer K.A. Rudolphi, Beitrdge zur Anthropologie und allgemeinen Naturgeschichte, Berlin, 1812, 1-78. I am indebted to my son, David Thomas, for his full translation into English of the 17-page biography contributed by Friedrich Ratzel in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biografie. Colin Thomas is Reader in Geography at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

Chronology 1741

Born in Berlin, 22 September

1758-9

Studied at the Universities of Halle and Gottingen

1760

Defended his doctoral thesis at the University of Leiden

1763

Elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society, London

1766

Published Elenchus Zoophytorum and Miscellanea Zoologica

1767

Moved to St Petersburg in June to take up an appointment as Professor of Natural History at the Academy of Sciences

1767-9

Published Spicilegia Zoologica

1768-74

Participated in the Academy of Sciences' expedition to the Ural Mountains, Siberia, the Altay, and Trans-Caspia

1771-6

Published Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs in den Jahren 1768-73

1778

Published Novae species Quadrupedum e Glirium ordine

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1780

Published Species Astragalorum, describing 40 new types

1781-96

Contributed numerous articles, mainly on die exploradon of Siberia, to Neue nordische Beitrdge

1784-8

Published Flora Rossica

1786-9

Published Linguarum totius orbis vocabularia comparativa

1793-5

Travelled in Southern Russia and the Krimea, finally setding there on estates granted to him by die Empress Cadierine II

1799-1801 Published Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in die siidlichen Statthalterschafien des Russischen Reichs in denjahren 1793 und 1794 1803

Published Illustrationes plantarum

1810

Returned to Berlin

1811

Died in Berlin, 8 September

1811-31

His Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica was published posthumously

Sir Robert Sibbald 1641-1722

Charles W.J. Withers

Sir Robert Sibbald (he was knighted by Charles II in 1682, the year in which he was made Geographer Royal), was a natural historian, medical theorist and scientist-antiquarian as well as a geographer. From his student days in Edinburgh and in training in Europe, geography understood as a form of natural and political survey was central to Sibbald's concerns. He was a key figure in the promotion of utilitarian natural science and, in collecting together work for a proposed Scottish Adas as the summation of his chronological-geographical enquiries, he was amongst the first to use the circulated questionnaire as a basis to national self-knowledge. His significance rests in the conduct of his work, his social network and in die royal patronage given to his inductive empiricism at a period marked by die promotion of the natural sciences and in claims to natural knowledge as useful.

1. Education, Life and Work Robert Sibbald was born in Blackfriars Close, off Edinburgh's High Street, on 15 April 1641. His father David held high political office as Keeper of die Great Seal of Scotland. His uncle George was a senior physician and Professor of Philosophy. The family estate was in Fife, at Balgonie near Rankeillor. Much of Sibbald's life was spent at his grandfadier's house at Kipps, to the west of Edinburgh near Torphicen. Sibbald was educated at Cupar in Fife in 1650 and in Edinburgh's High School. Litde is known of his early days. We are told from his autobiography (which is incomplete, and selective; he wrote it in middle age, stopping in 1692) how die young Sibbald, aldiough a 'tender child', managed to get 'past all die diseases commonly incident to children widiout any manifest hazard'. In 1645 die

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family fled Edinburgh because of the plague and, in 1651, Sibbald witnessed at first hand the Duke of Montrose's sacking of Dundee. Sibbald was a student at the University of Edinburgh from 1653 to 1659, studying under William Tweedy who taught him 'Aristotell, his philosophic being then depraved by the Scholastic Writters'. Exposure in particular to the writings of Sir Kenelm Digby, diplomat and philosopher, and of Thomas White, philosopher and theologian, made Sibbald 'a student of Atomistick or corpuscular philosophic'. After receiving his MA in 1659, Sibbald studied divinity at Edinburgh for about six months, stimulated mainly by Robert Leighton, University Principal and later Archbishop of Glasgow. Sibbald's scholarly habits - T shunned the playes and divertisements the odier students followed' - earned him the nickname 'Diogenes in Dolio'. Leighton's influence turned Sibbald aside from factionalist theology and, in March 1660, he sailed to Leyden to begin the study of medicine. He stayed in Leyden for 18 mondis, studying anatomy and surgery under Van Home and Franciscus Sylvius, botany under Adolph Vorstius, and chemistry under Christian Marcgraf, brother to George whose 1648 The Natural History ofBrazilv/as one of a number of texts then breaking away from emblematic natural history towards more systematic explanation of natural diversity. Sibbald worked alongside Niels Stenson who, as Nicolaus Steno, became Professor of Anatomy at Padua, and theorist on the eardi sciences. Sibbald was also familiar with chemistry and materia medica. Each of these influences played its part in shaping his later interests. He returned to Scotland after visits to Paris and Angers (where he graduated MD in 1662) and after residence in London where he met Sir Robert Moray, and odier scientific virtuosi introduced to him by his friends and cousins, Andrew (later Sir Andrew) Balfour and Patrick Drummond. Sibbald's intentions upon setding in Edinburgh were not ambitious: 'The designe I proposed to myself was to passe quiedy dirough the world, and content myself with a moderate fortune'. But from diis period begins his formal interest in natural history and geography and his vision for useful natural knowledge. By late 1667, he and Balfour had established the Edinburgh Botanical Garden. The garden became a major site for plants of use in teaching and in medicine and was run by James Sudierland who later became Professor of Botany at Edinburgh University and author, widi Sibbald's assistance, of Hortus medicusEdinburgensis. In 1679-80, Sibbald founded a medical-virtuoso club, which became the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) from 1681. His uncle George had proposed a similar venture in 1629. Like die botanic garden, tfie success of the RCPE owed much to political patronage particularly to diat of the Earl of Perdi through whose patronage Sibbald was knighted in 1682, appointed Physician to the King, and made Geographer Royal. In 1684 Sibbald was elected President of the RCPE and in 1685, first Professor of Medicine at Edinburgh University. Gready influenced by his patron, Sibbald became a Roman Catholic in 1686, a conversion which shocked his contemporaries, occasioned a riotous mob to storm his house in Edinburgh and led Sibbald to resign his Presidency of the RCPE and flee to London. There he met Sir Robert Boyle and Walter Charleton die antiquarian and comparative anatomist, amongst other members of die Royal Society, and was elected Fellow of die College of Physicians. He repented his conversion and rejoined die Protestant Church. But his seeming lack of principle harmed his reputation as gendeman and natural scientist and diese events may have influenced him not to take up die Chair at Edinburgh. Sibbald formally began his geographical work in 1682, aldiough he was

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collecting chorographical and antiquarian material with a view to geographical description of Scotland before then. He that year published both an Advertisement and a broadside circular requesting geographical information for his intended two-volume description of Scotland. This was never printed but extensive manuscripts survive. In 1684 he published Scotia Illustrata, an essay on Scotland's natural history in the widest sense, from natural phenomena through the plant and animal kingdoms to human disease. From then until 1711, Sibbald was active in the fields of natural history, chorographical description, Roman antiquities and in promoting useful knowledge as a basis to Scotland's national identity. Between 1698 and 1701 Sibbald twice proposed the founding of a Royal Society of Scotland, an institution to mirror the Royal Society of London and the Dublin Philosophical Society. His 1699 pamphlet on 'Provision for the poor in time of dearth and scarcity' and his earlier unpublished 'A Discourse Anent Improvements may be made in Scotland for Advancing the Wealth of the Kingdom' (1698) show him to have been concerned with the advance of the Scottish nation through moral enlightenment and economic improvement. His published geographical works mainly appeared in the 1683 Nuncius ScotoBrittanus and in the 1684 Scotia Illustrata, and detailed county-based chorographies appeared as his last published works in 1710 and 1711. He collaborated with the map-maker John Adair (although the two had an uneasy relationship), with John Slezer in the production of his Theatrum Scotiae, and was a contributor to the 1695 edition of Camden's Britannia. Letters toward the end of his life reveal Sibbald to be still interested in pursuing natural knowledge but, through illness and infirmity, less able to carry out the work. 'I have been thirty years past preparing the Geographical description of this country' he wrote in 1708. His project was never fully realized or printed, partly due to the fact then that Scotland's population and printing presses were fully employed in producing tracts to do with the 1707 Act of Union with England. But his manuscript sources are crucial to connections between geography and the social context to knowledge at this time. There is no firm evidence that he lectured: his proposed 1706 lectures in medicine were not given as the syllabus was too advanced for the students. His cabinet of natural history specimens, gathered together with those of Sir Andrew Balfour, formed the basis to Edinburgh University's Natural History Museum, and, later, the Royal Museum of Scotland. By 1714, Sibbald had 'taken me to retirement because of my greate age, and the infirmities which attende it'. His portrait was painted in 1721 and he died in Edinburgh on 9 August 1722.

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought Sibbald's geographical work drew greatly upon the idea of natural and historical knowledge as useful bases to national self-identity. In that sense, he reflects but develops the chorographic traditions of Robert Plot, William Petty, William Camden and many others. Sibbald's warrant of appointment shows him, however, to be extending antiquarian chorographies by practising a Baconian empiricism as a means to production of Royal authority and as a basis to inductive knowledge of nations. Sibbald's commission upon appointment in 1682 was to produce a natural history of Scotland and a geographical description that combined historical data with the results of contemporary survey. Sibbald's proposals for 'a Scottish Atlas' outlined two volumes: Scotia Antiqua, which embraced the historical development of the Scottish nation, the customs of the people and their

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antiquities, and Scotia Moderna, which aimed to describe the country's resources, as a work of contemporary chorography, on a county-by-county basis based on returns to his circulated questionnaire. Geography as a whole was not only for Sibbald 'of much use for the life of man' (sic) and 'a noble Science' but was also crucial to correct understanding 'in Theology, Natural Philosophy, History, . . . Merchandising and the Practice of Medicine'. Geography's place within a wider useful natural knowledge embracing natural history and medicine is perhaps unsurprising given Sibbald's own interests and disciplinary training. But it is not always a point admitted in our contemporary histories of geography. Sibbald outlined the substance to his projected Adas in his 1683 Nuncius ScotoBritannus, sive admonito de atlante Scotico seu descriptions Scotiae antiquae et modernae, prefaced to his 1684 Scotia Illustrata, sive Prodromus Historie Naturalis ('Scotland Illustrated, or an introduction to its Natural History'). Sibbald knew and drew from Ptolemy and odier classical geographers. He cited Varenius and Cluverius and, like many geographers of the time, distinguished between 'general' and 'special' geographies with the idea of survey of the whole understood in the former and the details of region or place in the latter. He drew together 'Manuscripts Containing the Generall and Speciall Geographie the Natural Histories and State Government of the Kingdome and Church of Scotland' and saw antiquarian knowledge as part of contemporary geographical understanding in so doing. 'Manuscripts which relate ye Speciall Geographie of Scotland' cited the work of Camden, and the map-maker Johannes Blaeu and Sibbald's library shows him to have read Bochart's Geographica Sacra (1674), Keckermann, Munster's Cosmographiae universalis (1544) and his 1558 Rudimenta Mathematica, Hakluyt, Kircher and Newton's edition of Varenius' Geographia Generalis. For various reasons - too little cash, too much material, lack of focus - Sibbald's intended Atlas was never published. The 1683 Nuncius and the 1684 Scotia Illustrata are the only major published expressions of Sibbald's view of geography as a whole. The material contains Hippocratic discourses on the quality of places. There are sections on flora and fauna, mountains, forests, arable and other agricultural geographies, and topographical features. The inhabitants of Scotland are viewed as 'products' of their country, fitted both for war and the practice of the arts by virtue of the roughness of their native soil and the purity of the air. Sibbald was concerned to provide what we would now see as a medical geography with information about different diseases, their approximate geographical distribution and the local cures sought in medicinal simples (herbs) and plants. Attention throughout was on Scotland (the special geography) with comparisons or contrasts with other places where relevant (general geography). Some of the regional material was later published, notably that on Stirlingshire, Linlithgowshire, Fife and Kinross, and the Northern Isles. The Scotia Illustrata was in part based upon returns to a questionnaire survey issued by Sibbald. The type of questions posed - on topography, families of note, natural products and so on was typical of people like Plot, Petty and others then promoting utilitarianism and national knowledge through political and natural arithmetic. Sibbald was crucial to the promotion of geographical understanding as a form of political knowledge through economic survey, the qualititive measurement of a nation's social order via chorographical descriptions embracing medicine, natural history and scientific antiquarianism. His geography was also critically dependent upon the social network through which he operated as a gentleman natural philosopher. There is no complete list of respondents to his 1682 enquiries but surviving manuscript material records about 65 respondents, each giving a description of a particular region or place.

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Many were local ministers but Sibbald also drew upon chorographers and other natural scientists. James Wallace, for example, compiler of a lengthy report to Sibbald on Orkney and collector of a large volume of geographical material on the northern isles was a Puritan natural historian and physician, and audior in 1693 of A Description of the Isles of Orkney, to which Sibbald added an important essay on ancient geography. Martin Martin, author of A Late Voyage to St Kilda (1698) and A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland (1702) was used by Sibbald (and by John Adair) both to promote local natural knowledge and to advance the authority of the Royal Society. Sibbald drew together many of the maps of Robert Gordon of Straloch, map-maker and chorographer, and some of die maps of Timothy Pont who had single-handedly undertaken a geographical tour of Scodand in the late sixteenth century. In these ways, he acted to centralize and perhaps to ensure the survival of a wide range of geographical material important for the light it casts on Scodand's past geography but more crucially for what it documents about die contemporary understanding of what geography was and its place in die promotion of useful science.

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas Sibbald was a teleologist but a utilitarian philosopher in seeing the conduct and the products of his work and God's work as useful in diemselves: I mean by Nature, tiiat Art by which God made preserves and Governed! all die Beings in tiiis world, especially tiiose which fall under die discovery of our Senses, and by die Powers and virtues and Qualities God heth planted in diem [to] contribute to die use & ornament or pleasing of Human lyfe. Sibbald was, dien, central to pre-Enlightenment debates upon die utility of natural knowledge in and for Scodand. His philosophical and medical training gave him an abiding interest in systematic natural philosophy and in the advance of die empirical natural sciences. But he was one of a number of virtuosi who shared diese views and who did so as Europeans. Further, Sibbald's geographical work was intimately bound up with contemporary royalist ideological claims to the extension of natural knowledge, and with the political status of certain institutions in providing the authority for certain practices of national selfknowledge. It is important to understand that his geography was not die only one being undertaken, either in Scodand or more widely. John Adair, 'Matfiematician and skilful Mechanick' as Sibbald described him in his Atlas proposals, undertook much surveying and map making between 1680 and 1715. He was a respondent to Sibbald's 1682 queries and was involved with Sibbald as the map-maker to the Atlas project. Adair also assisted John Ogilby, audior of Britannia (1675) and had, since 1680, been working with Moses Pitt to prepare Scottish maps for Pitt's intended Great Atlas. From 1681, Adair had the audiority of die Scottish Privy Council 'to take a survey of die whole shires of die Kingdom, and to make up mapps thereof. The survey was to be by triangulation and Adair's 'Advertisement anent Surveying al the Shyres of Scodand' asked 'all learned observed curious persons' for information on national and historical matters. But Adair resented die contract of 1682 which effectively forbade him from surveying or publishing maps widiout Sibbald's consent as Geographer Royal. Adair - who was not formally released from this contract until 1691 - spoke

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of Sibbald's 'envy, malice and oppression' in constraining his own geographical work. Sibbald was also contracted to John Slezer, the topographical artist and author of Theatrum Scotiae, but Sibbald failed to deliver this text to the intended Latin and English versions and the final work was produced in English only with no contribution by Sibbald. Similarly, there is no sign that Sibbald taught geography although the subject was formally incorporated in lectures on Cartesian systematic philosophy, mathematics and cosmology in Edinburgh University and in Marischal College in Aberdeen in the 1680s. Sibbald's influence rested in his attention to what he called 'the Knowledge of Natural things that are the products of this Country' as 'usefull to human lyfe', a concern evident throughout his geography and natural history. Like his counterparts in Europe, Sibbald was concerned with contemporary survey as current knowledge and as a means to the future condition of the nation. Sibbald's manuscript 'Description of Scodand' pays considerable attention to soil types as 'determinants' of culture and in relationship to the potential capacity of the nation. His archaeological and antiquarian pursuits on Roman Scotland established the utility of artefacts to national identity. Similar conjunctions of interest inform, for example, his natural history of fishes in 1701, which, in addition to descriptions of 'aquatick animals' found in the rivers and firths, makes remarks on potential improvements in navigation and the connections between profitable fisheries and national well-being. The clearest expression by Sibbald of these connections is his 1698 'Discourse Anent the Improvements may be made in Scodand for Advancing the Wealth of the Kingdom'. The work, signed only 'By a Well Wisher to his Countrey' but clearly Sibbald, is divided into three parts: the present state of the nation; 'the means by which the wants of the countrey may be made up wherein it is discussed of Acts, trades, navigations, & improvement of land, and colonies'; with a part on improving Scodand's fisheries 'and the advantages the Nation may have yr by'. The focus on the state of the nadon is to look to utility and to the future; as Sibbald put it: 'What is wanting to make the people in all those places Happy.' Sibbald's botany was admired by Linnaeus who named die genus Sibbaldia in his honour, and die blue whale was once known as Balaenoptera Sibbaldi. In such ways, Sibbald's ideas were part of practices throughout Europe in which virtuosi collected empirical data to test or expand knowledge and to improve the human condition. In his views, geography was centrally implicated with the development of systematic natural philosophy. Sibbald's importance rests, too, in his contemporary relevance to our understanding of the social bases to the conduct of early modern science and geography, and because his royal and useful work prefigures disciplinary connections in the eighteenth century. Emerson (1988) has noted: 'Sibbald and his friends in die 1680s, 1690s and early 1700s saw their work as a continuation of the efforts of men such as Timodiy Pont, Robert Gordon of Straloch, James Gordon of Rothiemay, and others who had sought to map and describe Scodand'. It is unfair to claim as does Emery that 'Sibbald's reputation as a geographer . . . really rests on the amount of geographical material he collected from other men'. We should see Sibbald as continuing and enhancing longer-term European traditions of geography and chorography. His geography-by-survey had a crucial influence upon later statistical surveys in Britain and in Europe. Links widi earlier Scots should not obscure connections witii his British contemporaries in particular or with earlier forms of geographical knowledge diat included traditions of chronicle, antiquarian studies, local and regional history and natural magic. Early modern geography, like

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other forms of knowledge in that period, drew upon a complex array of data and should not be seen as possessing some clearly identifiable immutable core. For Sibbald and many of his contemporaries, geography was closely allied to natural history, was both a product and a means to what we might call utilitarian medicaltopographical knowledge, and was, simultaneously, a practice of measurement that embraced the formal languages of mathematics, geometry and perspective and used them to measure and to survey peoples, nations and nature as a whole.

Bibliography and Sources 1. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS ABOUT SIR ROBERT SIBBALD Henderson, T.F., 'Sir Robert Sibbald', Dictionary ofNational Biography, London, Smith Elder and Co., 1909, Vol. XVIII, 179-81. Hett, F.P., The Memoirs of Sir Robert Sibbald (1641-1722), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1932. Maidment, J., Remains of Sir Robert Sibbald, KNT, MD, containing his autobiography, memoirs of the Royal College of Physicians, portions of his literary correspondence and an account of his MSS, Edinburgh, Thomas Nelson, 1837. Emery, F.V., 'The geography of Robert Gordon, 1580-1661, and Sir Robert Sibbald, 1641-1722', Scot. Geogr. Mag, Vol. 74 (1958), 3-12. Emerson, R.L., 'Sir Robert Sibbald, Kt, the Royal Society of Scodand and the origins of the Scottish enlightenment', Ann. Sci, Vol. 45 (1988), 41-72. Simpson, D.C., 'Sir Robert Sibbald - die founder of the College', in Passmore, R. (ed.), Proceedings of the Royal College ofPhysicians ofEdinburgh Tercentenary Congress, Edinburgh, Royal College of Physicians, 1982, 59-91. Withers, C.W.J., 'Geography, science and national identity in early modern Britain: die case of Scodand and the work of Sir Robert Sibbald (1641-1722)', Ann. Sci., Vol.53 (1996), 29-73. Sibbald manuscript material is located in those institutions with which he was most closely connected and in some odier university and archive holdings: die University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, National Library of Scodand, Royal College of Physicians, Royal Scottish Museum, Royal Society. Autobiographical material in Hett (1932) and Maidment (1837) should be supplemented with MSS evidence held in the University of Edinburgh Library. A portrait may be found in die Royal Scottish Museum. 2. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS BY SIR ROBERT SIBBALD A detailed publishing history of Sibbald's printed works, by edition, but not of his MSS, is appended to Simpson (1982) above. 1661

Disputatio medica de variis tabis specibus, Leiden, Johan Elsevier.

1683

An account of the Scottish atlas, or the description of Scotland ancient & modern, Edinburgh, Lindsay, Kniblo, Solingen & Colmar.

Sir Robert Sibbald 89 1683

Nuncius Scoto-Britannus, sive admonito de atlante Scotico seu descriptione Scotiae antiquae et modernae, Edinburgh, Lindsay, Kniblo, Solingen & Colmar.

1684

Scotia illustrata sive prodromus historiae naturalis, Edinburgh, Lindsay, Kniblo, Solingen & Colmar.

1692

Phalainologia nova, sive observationes de rarioribus quibusdam balaenis in Scotiae littus nuper ejectis, Edinburgh, John Reid.

1693

Theatrum Scotiae. Containing the prospects of their Majesties castles andpalaces: together with those of the most considerable towns and colleges ... With a short description [translated and edited from that of Robert Sibbald] of each place. By John Slezer, London, John Leake for Abel Swalle.

1693

An essay concerning the Thule of the ancients, Edinburgh, John Reid.

1695

Additions [concerning Scotland] to William Camden. Camden's Britannia, newly translated into English: with large additions and improvements. Published by Edmund Gibson, London, F. Collins for A. Swalle and A. & J. Churchill.

1697

Auctarium musaei Balfouriani, e musaeo Sibbaldiano, sive enumeratio & descriptio rerumrariorum, tarn naturalium quam artificalium ... quas Robertus Sibbaldus ... Academiae Edinburgenae donavit, Edinburgh [Heirs of A. Anderson].

1699

[Anon] Provision for the poor in time of dearth and scarcity ... By a doctor of medicine, Edinburgh, James Watson.

1702

The liberty and independency of the Kingdom and Church of Scotland, asserted from antient records, Edinburgh, Andrew Symson.

1707

Historical inquiries, concerning the Roman monuments and antiquities in the north-part ofBritain called Scotland in which... there is an account of the Roman walls, ports, colonies and forts, Edinburgh, James Watson.

1707

Catalogus bibliothecae Sibbaldianae, secundum scientias et artes digentus. Pars prima ... , Edinburgh, Andrew Symson.

1709

Proposals for the Scotia illustrata; or, prodromus historiae naturalis Scotiae, in two volumes in Latin, Edinburgh, James Watson.

1710

The history, ancient and modern of the sheriffdoms of Fife and Kinross; with descriptions ... of the Firths ofForth and Toy ... With an account of the natural products of the land and waters, Edinburgh, James Watson.

1710

The history, ancient and modern, of the sheriffdoms ofLinlithgow and Stirling... with an account of the natural products of the land and water, Edinburgh, Andrew Symson.

1710

Vindiciae Scotiae illustratae, sive prodromi naturalis historiae Scotiae, contra prodromomastiges, Edinburgh, Andrew Symson.

1711

The description of the Isles ofOrknay and Zetland ... Published by S.RS.M.D. [from the MS of Robert Monteith], Edinburgh, Andrew Symson.

Charles W.J. Withers is Professor of Geography at the University of Edinburgh.

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Chronology 1641

Born on 15 April, Blackfriars Close, High Street, Edinburgh

1645

Moves from Edinburgh to Linlithgow and thence to family seat at Kipps, near Torphicen in West Lothian, to escape the plague

1650

Pupil at Cupar, Fife

1651

Resident in Dundee when the town is sacked

1651-2

Student at the High School, Edinburgh

1653-9

Student at 'the Toun's College Edinburgh' (The University of Edinburgh) under William Forbes (Professor of Humanity), William Tweedie (Professor of Philosophy), and Thomas Crawfurd (Professor of Mathematics)

1660-1

Student at the University of Leyden

1661-2

Visits Paris and Angers (graduates MD in Angers, 17 July 1662)

1662

Returns to Scotland, 30 October 1662, after an extended stay in London

1663

Begins practice as a physician

1665

Begins substantial collections of natural history specimens with Andrew (later Sir Andrew) Balfour

1670

Lays out first Botanic Garden in Edinburgh

1673

Appointed as Burgess of Linlithgow

1677

Married Anna Lowes of Merchiston (who dies of a fever 17 December 1678)

1678

Appointed physician to James Drummond, Earl of Perth, Chancellor of Scodand

1681

Founds Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh

1682

Appointed Geographer Royal and the Physician-in-Ordinary to the King (Charles II)

1682

Knighted by Charles II

1682

Married Anna Orrock

1683

Publication of Nuncius Scoto-Brittanus, sive admonito de atlante Scotico sen descriptione Scotiae antiquae et modernae

1683

Publication of An account of the Scottish atlas, or the description of Scotland ancient and modern

1684

Publication of Scotia illustrata sive prodromus historiae naturalis

1684

President of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh

1685

Appointed Physician to the King (James VII)

1685

Professor of Medicine, University of Edinburgh and appointed Burgess of Edinburgh

Sir Robert Sibbald 91 1686

Honorary member, College of Physicians, London

1693

Publishes text (anonymously) in Slezer's Theatrum Scotiae

1699

Publication of Provision for the poor in time of dearth and scarcity

1702

Publication of The liberty and independency of the Kingdom and Church of Scotland, asserted from antient records

1707

Publication of Historical inquiries, concerning the Roman monuments and antiquities in the north-part of Britain called Scotland

1710

Publication of The history, ancient and modern of the sheriffdoms ofFife and Kinross

1710

Publication of The history, ancient and modern of the sheriffdoms of Linlithgow and Stirling

1711

Publication of The description of the Isles ofOrknay and Zetland

1722

Died on 9 August in Edinburgh

Jaume Vicens Vives 1910-1960

Anna Fabre and Jose Luis Villanova

Jaume Vicens Vives was unique in being essentially the only Spanish intellectual working in the 1940s and 1950s to include as part of his research die study of political geography and geopolidcs during diat most sensidve period in international affairs. He is recognized as a pioneer research historian who was receptive to contemporary trends in international historiography and also as one of die founder members of modern Spanish and Catalan historiography by including die geographical factor as a means of achieving his aim of accuracy and greater widdi of vision. As a researcher he was an ardent defender of academic rigour and intellectual honesty. However, he also distinguished himself as a valuable contributor to the teaching of geography in schools, through the publication of text books, blank maps for schoolchildren and die first historical adases. Although he was first and foremost an historian, he devoted part of his life's work to the study of geopolitics, which he believed could never be divorced from study of history.

1. Education, Life and Work Jaume Vicens Vives was born in Girona on 6 June 1910. In 1921 he began his secondary education in the High School of diat same city, where it is quite possible diat his vocation as an historian sprang from the contact witii his teacher Rafael Ballester i Castell, die autiior of a history textbook entided Clio. On finishing his secondary studies in 1926 he moved to the capital of Catalonia to read History at Barcelona University, graduating in 1931. During his undergraduate period he was deeply influenced by two of his professors: Pedro Bosch i Gimpera and Antonio de la Torre. The former fostered in the young Vicens an admirable capacity for synthesis and a brilliant prose style whereas from die latter

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he received his commitment to rigorous scientific method and bibliographical thoroughness. On completing his University degree he taught for a year (1932-3) in the Institut-Escola de Barcelona. This centre had been set up by the Generalitat de Catalunya (the Autonomous Government of Catalonia) and was to play an important role in the development of Catalan secondary education. In 1933 Vicens began to work as an assistant lecturer at the University under de la Torre. In 1935 he was appointed Head of the History and Geography Department in Figueres High School, but never took up this post as he was to remain attached to the University. On graduation, he began his career as a research historian with a series of articles published in the journal Estudios Universitaris Catalans (Catalan University Studies), in which he started to break with the Catalan historiographical tradition of purely analytical research inspired by nineteenth-century optimism. One of these articles, published in 1935 - a review of Soldevila's Histdria de Catalunya (History of Catalonia), considered to represent the acme of the 'romantic' period in Catalan historiography - initiated a heated debate with Rovira i Virgili in which Vicens challenged the 'romantic' approach to history as a falsification of the nation's past. In the same year in another article he proposed an alternative method which would require an underpinning of geographical, economic and social elements, thus emphasizing the need for a geopolitical analysis of most of the history of Catalonia. In the course of this debate Vicens was to make a statement attacking the political manipulation of history and defending the role of the professional, university-trained historian. In 1936, the year the Spanish Civil War broke out, Vicens read his doctoral thesis Ferran II i la Ciutat de Barcelona 1479-1516 (Ferdinand II and the City of Barcelona 1479-1516) and began his career as an author of educational textbooks with the publication of Histdria. Primeres lectures (First readings in History), cowritten with Enric Bague. In the prologue of this text he recommended the use of historical atlases and stressed the importance of using maps for the understanding of history. The following year Vicens was married to Roser Rahola who was at that time studying under him at the University. Franco's victory in 1939 brought a radical change to Vicens' life; he was removed from the University. During the early years of the new regime he earned his living by writing books for the public and publishing articles on the international politics of the Second World War in the weekly magazine Destino (Destiny), under the pseudonym Lorenzo Guillen. During this period, at the height of the general interest in geopolitics, he published Espana. Geopolitica del Estadoy dellmperio (Spain. Geopolitics of State and Empire) (1940) in which he made concessions to the prevailing ideology, bowing to the imperial rhetoric and bringing a combination of materialist and spiritual arguments to bear on the imperial process. In 1941 he published an article in the Italian journal Geopolitica and another in the German Zeitschrift fur Geopolitik. His interest in this subject reached its peak with the publication in 1950 of one of his key works, Tratado general de geopolitica (General Treatise on Geopolitics) in which he clarified some of the opinions expressed during the 1940s. In 1942 he co-founded, with his brother-in-law Frederic Rahola, the Teide publishing house whose forward-looking approach and illustrations were to create a landmark in the history of educational publishing. Over the remaining years of his life Vicens published around 20 textbooks and atlases for primary and secondary schools, either alone or in co-authorship widi other writers, among whom must be mentioned Santiago Sobreques and Joaquin Bosque Manuel.

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After Vicens' death, his widow and his daughter, Anna Vicens Rahola, continued his editorial policy in the Vicens-Vives publishing house. In 1942 Vicens was transferred to Baeza High School and in the same year he published his Historia General Moderna (General Modern History), considered to be one of the greatest liberal syntheses of European history, written during the Second World War. In 1945 a new period of research began and his Historia de los Remensas en el siglo XV(History of the 'Remensas' in the 15 th century) was published by the Centro Superior de Investigaciones Cientfficas (Higher Institute of Scientific Research). Two years later he returned to the University after sitting for competitive examinations and was appointed to the Chair of Modern History, first in the University of Saragossa and then a year later in the University of Barcelona. His interest in education led him to organize student-centred extracurricular seminaries which also served as a forum for debate on current events. The economic independence provided by the Teide publishing house enables Vicens to make generous donations to die University library of books received in exchange for publications sponsored by him, Indice Historico Espanol (Spanish Historical Index) above all. The same concern for stocking the University library shelves was agaTin seen when Vicens bequeathed his own private library to the University of Girona. In 1949 he travelled to Italy with Antonio de la Torre and diis trip was to awaken in him a new interest in European affairs. In the same year he began to set up a framework for historical research in Barcelona with the foundation of die Centro de Estudios Historicos Internacionales (International Historical Research Institute) in 1949, and of the journals Estudios de Historia Moderna (Studies in Modern History) in 1951 and Indice Historico Espanol (Spanish Historical Index) in 1953. The year 1950 marked a watershed in Vicens' life. At die NinUi International History Congress in Paris he came into contact with die ideas of Arnold Toynbee, Lucien Febvre - whose La Terre et revolution humaine he had already read in the 1930s - and die school of historiography centred around the journal Annales, founded by Marc Bloch and Febvre in 1929. Before 1950, Vicens' contribution to historiographical renewal had been not so much a question of mediodology as of an open-minded attitude to the task at hand. Eschewing all preconceived bias as improper for die historian, Vicens approached his sources with academic meticulousness and intellectual honesty. After coming into contact widi die Annales school, however, he developed a greater interest in social and economic history and in the use of statistical mediods. From this time onwards he devoted himself to applying die new methodology to die study of Spanish history, concentrating especially on die contemporary period, diough widiout losing sight of the medieval and odier ages, as can be seen from die list of his publications. These circumstances, which placed Vicens' work within the most forward-diinking trends in international historiography, were to consolidate his role as die driving force behind the opening up of Spanish historiography. This desire to renew Spanish historiography was soon manifested in works such as Aproximacion a la Historia deEspana (Approach to Spanish History) (1952) and El gran sindicato remensa 1488-1508 (The Great Remensa' Confederacy 1488-1508) (1954). In 1954 he was appointed Professor of Spanish Economic History in the refounded Economics Faculty of Barcelona University. From that year on he undertook extensive research into demographic and economic sources in order to enrich his knowledge of social and political history. This period of research in the Economics Faculty culminated in die 1959 publication, with co-audior Jordi Nadal, of Manual de Historia Economica de Espana (Manual of Spanish Economic

Jaume Vicens Vives

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History). This work came to represent a landmark in Spanish and Catalan historiography, as the first attempt at a synthesis of Spanish economic hislory, approached from the economic ideology of the liberal-democratic bourgeoisie of the time. Stemming from his concern for the situation in Catalonia, Vicens carried out a series of activities throughout this period that were not strictly related to his academic research. In 1954 he published Noticia de Catalunya (Report from Catalonia) , which is regarded as a sentimental chronicle of Catalan history. The book was a huge success and had a great impact on the reading public. On translation from Catalan into Spanish, the publication initiated a nationwide debate on the Catalan question. In 1955 Vicens began to publish a large collective work on the history of Catalonia which was disguised for political censorship reasons under the title of Biografies Catalanes (Catalan Biographies). The following year he joined the Academia de les Bones Lletres (Arts Academy), die aim of which was the study of History and Literature, with special emphasis on Catalonia. In 1958, in an attempt to 'win back' the Catalan bourgeoisie, he became the founder member of an association of Catalan industrial entrepreneurs and academic economists called the Cercle d'Economia (Economics Society) in working collaboration widi highly placed civil servants in the public administration. This society was to organize lectures and meetings with a view to opening up die debate on the Spanish and Catalan economies from die liberal-democratic pro-European standpoint. In his concern for the political situation of tiiis period, Vicens also made two attempts to unite the more moderate nationalist sectors into political groupings, but both of these attempts were doomed to failure. The same concern for socio-political affairs led him to organize meetings in his own home between prominent members of intellectual circles in Catalonia and Madrid, and even to the extent of including figures from the different political sectors (ranging from Accion Catolica (Catholic Action), Christian democrats and moderate nationalists on the one hand, to members of the Communist PSUC and the anarchosyndicalist CNT on the other, even though these two latter organizations were represented through intermediaries). During the course of these meetings the debate centred on the difficult political situation in Catalonia and on some occasions went so far as to discuss the possibility of inaugurating political changes for the country. Jaume Vicens Vives died after a brief illness on 28 June 1960 in Lyons, France, where he had been hospitalized for a lung cancer operation.

2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought Vives was, above all, a distinguished professional historian, and may be properly regarded as one of the founders of modern Catalan and Spanish historiography. Nevertheless, his contribution to geography should not be overlooked, above all in the context of die dearth of theoretical works published in post-war Spain. He regarded geography as auxiliary but essential to the understanding of history. His interest in geography was not merely diat of situating and collating the historical evidence but also of correcdy assessing the meaning and importance of geographical facts and their influence on historical events. While aware that although the course of history is not determined by die medium in which it occurs, but rather depends on many other factors or circumstances,

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Vicens realized that historical events unfurl within a definite geographical context and that it is this interaction between man and his surroundings which characterizes the evolution of human communities. In this vision of history Vicens placed himself firmly within the framework established by Febvre, Toynbee and Bloch. After discovering Febvre's La Terre et revolution humaine, he was later able to write: I was taken by surprise on reading this book ... my love of geopolitics and geohistory and my inveterate passion for confronting Man with his environment, for calling upon cartography in my search for historical truth, may all have stemmed from the reading of that enriching book... (Jaume Vicens Vives, 1951) However, this interest in geography which was to impregnate his work as an historian ran much deeper in Vicens. It was the driving force behind his contributions to the study of geopolitics and all his educational and cartographical publications, as well as his many articles in various widely read journals, notably in the weekly Destino. These articles covered a wide spread of subjects, ranging from reports on geographical congresses and reviews of books on geography to geopolitical analyses of current international politics. In these latter articles, many of which were written in periods of financial duress due to his banishment from the University, Vicens was to manifest his own personal opinions. Eschewing all dogma and non-scientific interpretations, he expressed his concern and interest for the world around him and it was this awareness which made him seek to influence his environment. As evidenced by his mindfulness of the need for a clear-headed analysis of contemporary events, his concern was to help create the intellectual conditions in which his fellow men could better pursue their self-development as human beings. Education was the second field of interest for Vicens and his clearly conceived, attractively laid-out textbooks with their concise, useful contents and lavish use of maps were to mark a milestone in educational publishing. In Historia. Primeras lecturas (First Readings in History), published in 1936, Vicens states his belief in the importance of geographical and historical maps for the understanding of history. He regarded cartography as the cornerstone of geography, geopolitics and history or as a tool with which the historian could situate and relate the facts within a spatial framework. Indeed some authors have seen cartography as the key to an overall understanding of Vicens' life work. Vicens' outstanding achievement in the field of primary and secondary education began in 1942 with his Teide publications. The historiographical works were infused with a spirit of innovation and desire to break with the rigidity of a closed system. He carried this enthusiasm furthermore into his educational textbooks, both by his insistance on the use of photographs, charts and regional maps in full colour, despite the additional publication costs thus incurred, and by including updated aspects of geography that were not a feature of the official educational syllabi. He put additional effort into the innovatory publication of a series of blank maps for use in schools and of two historical atlases. Both latter works had an identical format: the main body of the adas consisted of a series of historical maps of Spain and the world, complete with explanatory geopolitical symbols; an appendix containing an explanation by Vicens of each individual map; and a second appendix, compiled by different authors, containing dynastical and other charts. Both works contain maps which also appear in Espana ... (Spain ...) (1940) and Tratado General... (General Treatise...) (1950).

Jaume Vicens Vives 97 It should be pointed out that Jaume Vicens Vives has been claimed by some authors to be the only Spanish academic of that time who endeavoured, through his empirical methods, to place the study of geopolitics under the category of scientific research. Geopolitics and political geography had hardly been developed in Spain prior to 1940. Political Geography by Dix and Geographie sociale: le sol et VEtat by Vallaux had been translated into Spanish; the Bulletin of the Royal Spanish Geographical Society had published several articles on the subject written by historians or members of the armed forces; and in diplomatic circles, die Association of International Law Societies had organized a course on political geography. The links established between political geography and Nazi geopolitics created a state of general confusion that led to research work in these fields being abandoned. However, several articles were published in Estudios Geogrdficos (Geographical Studies) between 1940 and 1945 in an attempt to clarify and differentiate the subject matter of both areas. Moreover, a series of war articles, written by army officers and journalists from a geopolitical standpoint, appeared in several widely-read journals of the time. However, due to the above mentioned climate of confusion, both political geography and geopolitics soon ceased to be part of the academic and educational agendae, with the exception of one secondary school text published by Manuel de Teran in 1951 and the 1939-50 publications of Vicens Vives. Vicens' geopolitical thought was substantially developed over three areas of his work: the series of articles published in the widely-circulated Destino and die articles published in Geopolitica and Zeitschrift fur Geopolitik, and in die textbook that appeared in 1956 under the tide of Universo: Geografia General (The Universe: A General Geography); and in the two already mentioned volumes published on the same subject: Espana. Geopolitica del Estado y del Imperio (Spain. Geopolitics of State andEmpire) (1940) and Tratado General de Geopolitica (General Treatise on Geopolitics) (1950). These last two works were separated by a period of ten years, a decade which brought great changes in both Vicens' personal circumstances and in die international political situation. In 1940 he had been exiled from die University following the Civil War victory by Franco, and at the same time, the German school of geopolitics was at its height just after the onset of the Second World War. By 1950, Vicens had been reinstated at die University and die war had been over for five years. The German defeat inevitably led to the 'disappearance' of die study of geopolitics diat was everywhere encumbered by its identification with die German 'Geopolitik' school. Vicens felt the need to attenuate, or sift through, some of his earlier ideas and to defend himself against the misrepresentations from which he claimed to have suffered. In die second volume he declared his belief that the recent course of international events only went to prove diat geopolitics was still the driving force behind State policies on foreign affairs. Furthermore, he insisted on die need to dissociate geopolitics from die aggressive imperialism of the 'Munich-Heidelberg school', now devoid of all academic prestige following its acknowledgment of Nazi ideology. He strongly criticized Strausz for identifying geopolitics with the German school and suggested 'Geohistory' as an alternative term of reference. Although he was subsequendy to make use of bodi terms, he preferred 'Geohistory' as being closer to the diinking of Braudel, despite regarding the term as 'a somewhat unfortunate neologism that grates on the ears'. The two books show marked differences. The first work is an 'application' of die principles and cartographic techniques of German geopolitics (twenty-odd volumes by exponents of the German school were later found in Vicens' personal

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library) to a strongly imperialistic analysis of Spanish history. In this volume he also emphasizes the pedagogical value of geopolitics as a means of reaching the public. The structure of the study is an imitation of the map-explanation format found in Horrabin's An Atlas of Current Affairs. The aim of the second work is to lay down a coherent theoretical foundation of principles and methodology upon which to build the study of geopolitics. Vicens analysed the thinking of German (Ratzel, Maull) and English-speaking (Mackinder, Mahan) geographers as well as the ideas of Rjellen and Haushofer, 'the founding fathers' of geopolitics. He also took into account the contribution of Toynbee and the Annales school (Febvre and Braudel). Despite notable dissimilarities between the two works, the same concepts, definitions and principles of the earlier work are to be found ten years later in the latter, although in a different form. In both publications, Vicens expresses an interest and concern to demonstrate the scientific basis of geopolitics. In 1940 he regarded geopolitics as a theoretical branch of geography, complementing regional geography which in his opinion was confined within narrow natural boundaries and excluded the more complex human superstructures of the state. Vicens saw in geopolitics a new geographical synthesis which purported to study these superstructures within a geographical framework. 'Overwhelmed' by certain ideas of Kjellen, he claimed that geopolitics was the study of the physical mechanisms which initiated the interactions between states and that the self-same discipline tended to consider 'the State as the living organism of a people'. This kind of statement, combined with the disrepute of geopolitics in the 1940s, led him later to redefine his position in clearer terms in an attempt to 'reclaim' geopolitics as the most useful instrument, in his opinion, with which to understand the unfolding of events on the international stage. In 1950 Vicens stated that geopolidcs was 'the doctrine of living space' and was to insist on the validity of the term 'living space' as conceived by Ratzel, despite the dangerous connotations implied, die sinister interpretations made thereof by Haushofer and Vowinckel and the political manipulations by the Nazis, after which the term became synonymous with the justification of violent expansionist policies. Fully aware of the organicism and geographical-biological determinism present in many of the theories from which he was trying to dissociate himself, Vicens now stressed the importance of economic, social, political, religious and technical factors in the development and evolution of any given people. He followed Toynbee in postulating that all cultural genesis is the fruit of the interaction of biological elements and the physical environment. The setbacks and stimuli thrown up by this interaction are in turn influenced by the 'socio-psychological moment', a key term in Vicens' analysis of man's relationship with his environment. The driving force of history was that inner resourcefulness of society to react to the internal and external, human and geographical stimuli with which it is successively confronted. This line of argument allowed Vicens to establish a link between the geopolitical method and the possibilist-relationist tendencies of the Febvre school. He went on to analyse various aspects of geography in this fashion as witnessed by his acclaim of Huntington's study on climate, discussions of Henning's ideas on relief and his completion of Obst's work on river basins. According to Vicens, geopolitics was the study of the geohistorical nucleus, that 'natural space enriched by the criss-cross of communications and trends, out of which combination of human and social circumstances emerged the creative impulse of a culture or a State'. This concept was further developed to include

Jaume Vicens Vives 99 Wittlesey's definition of the state ecumene. In many situations these theories concurred but they diverged on the subject of the centre of states, due to the influence, among other factors, of the existence of the borderline peripheral and cultural tensions, not necessarily belligerent and aggressive. Vicens rejected the theory of natural boundaries and likewise the 'scientific boundaries' of Holdich and Curzon. Instead, he introduced the concept of geopolitical boundaries, which overlapped yet transcended the 'boundaries of civilization' as described by Ancel. These boundaries were seen as bridges between the peoples of culturally similar nations. (It is interesting, in the light of recent international events, to remember that Vicens was ideologically closer to Mahan than to Mackinder and that in 1950 he wrote that all superpowers (cf. the former Soviet Union) 'eventually fall widi a resounding crash, above all when a turn in the course of history makes their satellite states rise up against them'.) Throughout his published work, Vicens speaks of geopolitics, political geography, historical geography and geohistory. His main interest was geopolitics, which he perceived as more dynamic than the static political geography. For Vicens, geopolitics 'provides us with a neat synthesis of Historical and Political Geography to bring to bear on contemporary polidcal and diplomadc events. Stricdy speaking, Geopolitics does not belong to die science of Geography' (1950). Neverdieless, as already mentioned, Vicens finally opted for the term 'geohistory', defined as: a geographical approach to historical societies as organized widiin a natural framework. Geohistory is not concerned widi the present, as is Geopolitics, nor with the State, as is Political Geography. Its content matter is similar to tiiat of Historical Geography, differing however as regards subject - cultural aspects of society - and the use of the dynamic Geopolitical metiiod. In practice, however, Vicens used both 'Geopolitics' and 'Geohistory' indifferendy. A final mention should be made of the supreme value Vicens attached to die use of maps and diagrams. Geopolitical maps ('dynamic maps') and geohistorical diagrams were a feature of all his published works on bodi history and geography. Vicens' major contribution in this field was to introduce into Spain die principles and techniques of geopolitical cartography, characterized by die use of 'suggestive' symbols to aid the readers' understanding by clearly illustrating die unfolding of historical, political and cultural events against a geographical backdrop. However, the very 'suggestiveness' of these maps lay them open to being dangerously manipulated for political purpose. Notwithstanding this, Vicens' original idea had been to produce maps of a scientific nature and widi only a limited use of geopolitical symbols, precisely in order to discourage attempts at manipulation. Worry about this aspect and the discredit of die scientific content of die maps as they began to be used led Vicens to write in 1940: 'If Geopolitics can be turned around into a dangerous propaganda weapon, die explanation must surely lie in die extraordinary diffusion of any historical or geographical fact afforded by the suggestive maps.' Vicens underlined the importance of geohistorical (as against geopolitical) charts and diagrams which enabled him to express more abstract concepts without necessarily having to refer to any geographical location. These diagrams contain 'pure' geopolitical symbols which afford a high level of abstraction but ignore the underlying cartographical reality.

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3. Influence and Spread of Ideas Jaume Vicens Vives can be considered as one of die fathers of modern Catalan and Spanish historiography. His methods, ideas and approach to the subject left a deep imprint on many of his undergraduate students, not only dirough his lectures and seminars but also through his legacy of interesting publications. Moreover, his concern for the training of rigorously scientific historians was not limited to his teaching activities but extended to the setting up of a major framework for historical research in Barcelona. This aspect of Vicens' life work began in 1949 with the foundation of the Centro de Estudios Historicos Internacionales (International Historical Research Institute) and later of the journal Estudios de Historia Modema (Studies in Modem History) in which he published important articles by foreign historians and underlined the need for a greater diversification of subject matter. This journal was followed by another, the Indice Historico Espanol (Spanish Historical Index). Vicens committed himself to all diese projects and his veiy enthusiasm prompted the willing co-operation of fellow teachers, disciples and students alike. Moreover, this new historical research infrastructure was to become the cornerstone for the 'Barcelona school' of university historians (Josep Fontana, Emili Giralt, Montserrat Llorens, Joan Mercader, Jordi Nadal, Joan Regla, Manuel Riu, David Romano) who were later in a position to be able to complete the works left unfinished on Vicens' premature death. The contact with the Annales school moved him to introduce Spanish historiography to the use of statistical methods and a line of research with a strong social and economic slant. In accordance with the new international trends, Vicens pioneered the opening up of Spanish historiography and likewise welcomed and encouraged foreign academics working in Spain (these workers included Carrere, Elliot, Marinescu, Vilar and Wolff). Three aspects of his contribution to geography should be noted. In Spain, Vicens spread the idea of geopolitics as a tool for understanding international political events through his clearly written and widely read articles in Destino and other magazines. He also attempted to make the study of geography more accessible to the general reader by reviewing interesting books published on the subject and making reference to geographical congresses held over the period. Vicens published over 20 history and geography textbooks for primary and secondary schools. The foundation of the Teide publishing house gready facilitated this huge editorial task. These texts were regarded as avant-garde and became trendsetters that were followed by later authors. Even in recendy published textbooks we can still observe a remarkable resemblance to die maps, charts and geopolitical diagrams first set out by Vicens in the 1940s and 1950s. Vicens' two separate and at times contradictory volumes on geopolitics are among die very few works published on the subject in the Spain of his time and are vital to our understanding of the development of his diought. The book Espana . . . (Spain ...), containing some statements that fall into biological and geographical determinism, was praised by Haushofer in two articles published in Zeitschrift fur Geopolitic ('Spanische Geopolitik' and 'Zwei Zeichnungen der Spanischen Geopolitik'). In the former article it was even suggested that Vicens was as important to Spain as were Ratzel and Kjellen to Mitteleurope. And two lectures on the development of the Catalan economy, delivered in Oxford in die 1950s, received favourable mentions in The Times.

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Bibliography and Sources 1. REFERENCES ON JAUME VICENS VIVES Albert?, Santiago et al. (eds), Diccionari biografic, vol. IV, Barcelona, Alberti, 1970. Batalle, Dolors and Rabella, Josep M!l, 'La geografia vista per u n historiador: J a u m e Vicens Vives', Revista de Girona, Girona, Diputacio de Girona, 1978. Badlori, Miquel, '20 anys despres', Avenc, 29, Barcelona, 1980, pp. 61-3. Clara, Josep et al, Epistolari deJaume Vicens, Girona, Cercle d'Estudis Histories i Socials, 1994. Fontana Lazaro, Josep, 'Vicens Vives, Jaume', Gran Enciclopedia Catalana, qua voce, Barcelona, 1980. Fuster, Joan, 'Apunts per a una replica a Vicens Vives', Serra d'Or, 11, 1960, pp. 14-15. Galera, Pilar, 'BibliografTa de Jaime Vicens Vives (1910-1960)', Indice historico espanol, vol. VI, Barcelona, 1960, pp. 1-16. Galera, Pilar, 'Publicaciones de Vicens Vives', Homenatge a Jaume Vicens Vives, vol. 1, Barcelona, 1965, pp. 19-35. Garcia Ballesteros, A., Bosque Maurel, J. and Bosque Sendra, J., 'La geografia espanola y el regimen de Franco (1936-1955)', Adas del Symposium 'Political Geography: geography and fascism', Hamburg, ICHS, 1989. Garcia Carcel, Ricardo, 'Noticia de Catalunya: cronica sentimental', Avenc, 83, Barcelona, 1985, pp. 84-5. Grau, Ramon and Lopez, Marina 'Vicens i Vives, J a u m e ' , Ictineu, Diccionari de les Ciencies de la Societat als Paisos Catalans (s. XWII-XX), Edicions 62, Barcelona, 1979, pp. 496-8. Maluquer de Motes, Joan (ed.), Homenatge a Jaume Vicens Vives, Barcelona, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat de Barcelona, 1965. Mendez, R., 'El resurgir de la geografia politica' in Garcia Ballesteros, A., Teoria y prdctica de la geografia, Madrid, Alhambra, 1986, pp. 328-47. Mercader, Joan, 'Jaume Vicens Vives, historiador', Serra d'Or, 11, 1960, pp. 11-12. Munoz Lloret, J.M., 'Jaume Vicens Vives, historiador i politic', Miscellania d'homenatge aJosepBenet, Barcelona, 1991, pp. 393-409. Pasamar Alzuria, Gonzalo, Historiografia e ideologia en lapostguerra espanola: la ruptura de la tradicion liberal, Zaragoza, Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, 1991. Regla, Joan, J a u m e Vicens Vives, professor universitari i cap d'escola', Serra d'Or, 11, 1960, pp. 9-10. Reguera Rodriguez, Antonia T., 'Fascismo y geopolitica en Espana', Geo Critica, 94, July 1991. Riera, Sebastia, 'L'historiador medievalista', Avenc, 83, Barcelona, 1985, pp. 64-71. Riquer, Borja de, 'Revisar Vicens: una necessitat i un repte', Avenc, 83, Barcelona, 1985, pp. 64-71.

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Rubi6,Jordi, 'El mestre enemic dels succedanis', Serra d'Or, 11, 1960, p. 4. Serra, Eva, 'La historia moderna: grandesa i miseria d'una renovacio', Aveng, 83, Barcelona, 1985, pp. 56-63. Soldevila, Ferran, 'El dinamisme de Vicens Vives', Serra d'Or, 11, 1960, pp. 4-5. Trueta, Josep, 'Adeu a Jaume Vicens Vives', Serra d'Or, 11, 1960, pp. 6-7. 2. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS BYJAUME VICENS VIVES 1939

'Teoria del espacio vital', Destino, 104, Barcelona.

1939 'Inundaciones en Holanda', Destino, 123, Barcelona. 1939 'Geodinamica del corredor polaco de Dantzig', Destino, 104, Barcelona. 1939

'Las ambiciones occidentales de la Rusia roja', Destino, 116, Barcelona.

1939 'El transplante de la poblacion alemana de los paises balticos', Destino, 118, Barcelona. 1939 'Friccion en la isla de los leones', Destino, 119, Barcelona. 1939

'Anatolia; encrucijada de Oriente', Destino, 120, Barcelona.

1939 'Paz en los Balcanes', Destino, 122, Barcelona. 1939

'Yanquilandia en el Mar Caribe', Destino, 124, Barcelona.

1939

'Las ambiciones occidentales de la Rusia roja. La URSS, el Baldco y el mar libre', Destino, 125, Barcelona.

1939

'Las ambiciones occidentales de la Rusia roja. La URSS, el Mar Negro y los Balcanes', Destino, 126, Barcelona.

1940 Espana. Geopolitica del Estado y del Imperio, Barcelona, Yunque. 1940

'Inquietud en Asia Central', Destino, 129, Barcelona.

1940

'Hungria, Estado, mutilado', Destino, 130, Barcelona.

1940

'Destinos de la Union Sudafricana', Destino, 133, Barcelona.

1940

'Nodcia de Dobrogea', Destino, 135, Barcelona.

1940

'La crisis japonesa', Destino, 142, Barcelona.

1940

'La nueva Manchuria', Destino, 145, Barcelona.

1940

'La vertebracion de Noruega', Destino, 146, Barcelona.

1940

'Bases navales en el Mediterraneo', Destino, 147, Barcelona.

1940 'Precisiones sobre la cuestion de Transilvania', Destino, 156, Barcelona. 1940

'Hungria y el eje Berlin-Roma', Destino, 158, Barcelona.

1940

'Guerra en el Africa Oriental', Destino, 159, Barcelona.

1940

'Nuevas bases aereas en el Pacifico', Destino, 163, Barcelona.

1940

'La lucha por el petroleo en el Mediterraneo Oriental', Destino, 166, Barcelona.

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1941 'Algunos caracteres geopoliticos de la expansion mediterranea de Espana', Geopolitica, 1, Milan. 1941

'Spanien und die geopolidsche Neuordnung der Welt', Zeitschrift fur Geopolitik, 5, Munchen.

1944 Nociones de geograjia e historia, Barcelona, Teide. 1945 Atlas y sintesis de historic universal, Barcelona, Teide. 1945 With Santiago Sobreques, Geo. Curso de geograjia e historia, Barcelona, Teide. 1946

Curso de geogiafia. Grado preparatorio, Barcelona, Teide.

1946 Atlas y sintesis de historia de Espana, Barcelona, Teide. 1946 Rumbos ocednicos. Los navegantes espanoles, ed. Barna, col. Barcelona. Laye. 1948 Atlas de geograjia economica, Barcelona, Teide. 1948 With Santiago Sobreques, El Hombre, la Tierra y la Historia, Barcelona, Teide. 1948

'Nuevos estudios sobre el Montseny y Andorra', Destino, 561, Barcelona.

1948

'La paz imposible', Destino, 569, Barcelona.

1948 'Geograffa pasiega', Destino, 578, Barcelona. 1948 Review of Walker, A., 'The British Empire. Its structure and spirit', Hispania, VIII, 31, Madrid, pp. 322-5. 1948 Review of Carr, E.H., 'International relations between the two world wars (1919-1939)', Hispania, VIII, 33, Madrid, pp. 675-8. 1948 Review of Butler, H., 'Peace or power', Hispania, VIII, 33, Madrid, pp. 678-81. 1949 'Noticias de Fernando Poo', Destino, 596, Barcelona. 1949 'Las publicaciones de la Estacion de Estudios Pirenaicos', Destino, 605, Barcelona. 1949

'Comunidad mediterranea', Destino, 618, Barcelona.

1949

'Francia y la polftica alemana', Destino, 629, Barcelona.

1949

'La crisis del estado chino', Destino, 637, Barcelona.

1949

'Mediterraneo y Pirineos', Destino, 642, Barcelona.

1950

Tratado General de Geopolitica, Barcelona, Teide.

1950

'({Que va a ser de Alemania?', Destino, 659, Barcelona.

1950

'Europa, el "tercer camino" ', Destino, 663, Barcelona.

1950

'Geopolitica o Geohistoria', Destino, 664, Barcelona.

1950

'La geograffa catalana del Padre Gil, S.J.', Destino, 669, Barcelona.

1950

'Diplimacia contemporanea', Destino, 672, Barcelona.

1950

'Geobotanica de las comarcas barcelonesas', Destino, 676, Barcelona.

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1950

'La geopolitica y la politica internacional', Destino, 678, Barcelona.

1950

'Libros de navegacion', Destinos, 681, Barcelona.

1950

'Los Pirineos examinados en San Sebastian', Destino, 687, Barcelona.

1950 With Santiago Sobreques, Atlas de geografia general y de Espana, Barcelona, Teide. 1950 With Joaquin Bosque, Las potencias mundiales, Barcelona, Teide. 1951 'L. Febvre y los Annales1, Destino, 708, Barcelona. 1952

'En torno a Trieste', Destino, 792, Barcelona.

1952 With Philippe Wolff, 'Principios de un metodo para la elaboracion de los mapas historicos de un atlas pirenaico', Adas del Primer Congreso Internacional de Pireneistas, Zaragoza, CSIC, Institute de Estudios Pirenaicos. 1952 With Pla Gibernau, Ebro. Geografia de Espana con nociones de geografia descriptiva, Teide, Barcelona. 1953 'Andalucia y Cataluna', Destino, 810, Barcelona. 1953 'Europa a la vista', Destino, 827, Barcelona. 1954 With Santiago Sobreques, Norte. Curso de geografia universal, Barcelona, Teide. 1954 With Joaquin Bosque, Estados del mundo. Geografia politica y economica, Barcelona, Teide. 1956 With Joaquin Bosque, Geografia economica general, Barcelona, Teide. 1956 With Joaquin Bosque andjulius Wagner, Universo. Tierra, productosy estados, Barcelona, Teide. 1958 With Santiago Sobreques, Tap. Historia y geografia de Espana, Barcelona, Teide. 1958 With Santiago Sobreques, Iberica. Geograjia e historia de Espana, Barcelona, Teide. 1959 With Santiago Sobreques, Orbe. Geografia e historia universal, Barcelona, Teide. 1959 With Santiago Sobreques, Espana geogrdfica. Curso de geografia, Barcelona, Teide. Anna Fabre and fose Luis Villanova are both licentiates in Geography from the Universitat Autonoma de Bellatetra.

Chronology 1910

Born in Girona on 6 June

1921

Started high school studies in Girona

1926-30

Student at the Arts Faculty of Barcelona University, from where he graduated with a degree in History

Jaume Vicens Vives 1931

105

First publication in the journal Estudis Universitaris Catalans (Catalan University Studies)

1932-3

Teacher at the Institut-Escola in Barcelona

1933 1935

Assistant lecturer at Barcelona University Appointed Head of the History and Geography Department in Figueres High School (an appointment that was never taken up)

1936

Doctoral Thesis on Ferdinand II and the City of Barcelona 1479-1516

1937

Married Roser Rahola on 20 August

1939

Began series of general publications, including articles for the weekly Destino

1940

Published Espana. Geopolitica delEstadoy dellmperio (Spain. Geopolitics of State and Empire)

1942

Founded the Teide publishing house

1945

Returned to research with die publication of Historia de los remensas en el siglo XV (History of the 'Remensas' in the 15th century)

1947

Appointed Professor of Modern History at Zaragoza University

1948 1949

Appointed Professor of Modern History at Barcelona University Travelled to Italy with Antonio de la Torre. Start of interest in European affairs

1950

Participated in the Ninth International History Congress in Paris

1950

Published Tratado General de geopolitica (General Treatise on Geopolitics)

1951

Founded the journal Estudios de Historia Moderna (Studies in Modern History)

1952

Published Aproximacion a la Historia de Espana (Approach to Spanish History). Expressed intention of updating Spanish historiography

1953

Founded Indice Historico Espanol (Spanish Historical Index)

1954

Appointed Professor of Spanish Economic History in the Economics Faculty of Barcelona University

1954

Published Noticia de Catalunya (Report from Catalonia)

1955

Started publicadon of the collectively written Biografies Catalanes (Catalan Biographies)

1959

Joint authorship with Jordi Nadal of Manual de Historia Economica de Espana (Manual of Spanish Economic History)

1960

Died in Lyons, France, on 28 June

James Wreford Watson 1915-1990

Guy M. Robinson

James Wreford Watson was a geographer and a poet. He brought a love of poetry and literature to his geographical writing, regarding geography as an art form and a vehicle for elegant prose. He used his talents as a writer to transform regional geographies of North America from the tedious lists of facts that diey could be when presented by those less skilled. To this ability he added new insights on the social character of urban areas and the importance of people's images of place as key determinants in their decision-making. In the 1950s and 1960s his publications on die importance of social distance and on image geography were pioneering works, die significance of which tended to be overlooked at die time. This reflects die fact that his name was known most widely for his standard texts on General Geography and North America, and because, as a Scot working in Edinburgh who adopted Canada as his second home, he stood outside influential geographical circles in both die United States and England. Despite diis, his long career, spanning six decades, was rewarded with high honours from bodi diese countries as well as from his two 'homelands'. Aldiough born in Shensi, China, in 1915, where his parents were Scottish Presbyterian missionaries, Wreford Watson was a Scot with lifelong ties to Edinburgh. He progressed from secondary school in die city, at George Watson's College, to the University of Edinburgh in 1931 where he graduated witii First Class Honours in Geography in 1935. He returned to his alma mater 18 years later as Professor of Geography, a post he held for three decades until his retirement in 1983. His work in regional geography reflected his Edinburgh training under Alan G. Ogilvie, but the setting for most of his research and his innovative contributions to human geography was North America, where he worked throughout die 1940s and early 1950s. It is diis combination of his training in regional geography, subject matter from the rapidly urbanizing Canada and United States and an extra literary dimension diat shaped Watson's writing and made him one of die outstanding geographers of his generation.

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1. Education, Life and Work Watson's background as the son of missionaries was reflected in his strong religious convictions and perhaps also in his lecturing style, which had more than a litde of die preacher character about it. His early life, as one of five children accompanying their parents from famine to flood to drought across the varied terrain of northern China, gave him abiding interests in both social problems and regional variations in die appearance of landscapes. However, his geographical ideas were refined by his undergraduate experience at Edinburgh, where emphasis was placed upon regions and regional differentiation. He had at least one course of regional geography in every year of his four-year undergraduate degree. Every lecturer in the Department of Geography taught at least one regional course, but it was Ogilvie's lectures on 'The Mediterranean Lands', regarded as masterpieces of description, which inspired Watson to emulate this particular art. He was not attracted, though, by Ogilvie's emphasis on a large array of facts, which followed the tradition in economic geography set by Ogilvie's predecessor as Chair of Geography, George Chisholm. Instead, Watson preferred other branches of human geography, such as the social and regional topics covered by another lecturer at Edinburgh, Arthur Geddes, son of Patrick, the influential biologist and sociologist. Watson had a distinguished undergraduate career, graduating with First Class Honours, winning a Vans Dunlop Scholarship and receiving die Royal Scottish Geographical Society's Universities' Medal, denoting that he was considered die most outstanding geography graduate in Scodand that year. This helped him obtain a position as an Assistant Lecturer in Geography at Sheffield University where he worked briefly under Professor Rudmose Brown and met Griffidi Taylor, who at the time was Professor of Geography at the University of Toronto. His association widi Taylor proved a lasting and defining one, as in 1939 Watson registered as a Ph.D student under Taylor to work on die growdi of settlement and development of the Niagara Peninsula. Meanwhile, Watson was employed as an instructor at McMaster University, Hamilton. He became the lecturer in charge of McMaster's geography programme, took Canadian citizenship and progressed rapidly to become die university's first Professor of Geography in 1945. In the same year he did some teaching at Carleton University, Ottawa, where the first full-time Lecturer in Geography was his wife, Jessie, nee Jessie Black, who had also graduated witii a degree in geography from Edinburgh University. Indeed, as students at Edinburgh, Jessie Black and Wreford Watson had been instrumental in founding the first University Geographical Society. Wreford Watson was its first President and Jessie Black its first Secretary. At McMaster, Watson's teaching covered a broad spectrum of the discipline. Each week, throughout the academic year, he taught courses witii the following tides: 'The elements of physical geography'; 'The human geography of setdement and population'; 'The regional geography of Canada'; 'The regional geography of Britain and Western Europe'. This breaddi and command of the subject was demonstrated in his book, General Geography, published in 1953, in which physical, human and regional geography were covered in a text used in schools and universities throughout North America. However, by diis time Watson's career had changed considerably. In the late 1940s, he took on a double role, lecturing at Carleton University and concurrendy holding the appointment of Head of die Geographical Branch (Chief Geographer) of die Department of Mines and Technical Surveys. This position involved die provision of geographical information to government departments and die preparation of a

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national adas covering both physical and human aspects of the country. Subsequently, this familiarity with the compilation of adases led to him editing several adases for Thomas Nelson & Sons, Collins and Longman. As Chief Geographer he also gave advice on public problems relating to land use, conservation, urban sprawl, rural depopulation, political boundaries and industrial location. This undoubtedly furtiiered his geographical education, helping him to focus attention on the major issues affecting society, which was apparent in his later work on the United States. On returning to Edinburgh in 1953 to die Chair of Geography, Watson did not sever his connections widi Canada and, over the next three decades, he and his wife were frequent visitors. He held visiting professorships at Queen's, Manitoba, British Columbia, Simon Fraser and Calgary Universities, enabling him to maintain a research focus upon North America. In 1956 a more formal link was established when he helped to found die School of Nordi American Studies at Edinburgh University. From diis was formed die Centre of Canadian Studies of which he was Convenor from 1972 to 1982. Many respected Canadian academics visited the Centre during this period, helping Watson to forge new links and to furdier his interests in Canada. He continued to write on both Canada and die United States, publishing two major texts in die 1960s: North America, its countries and regions (1963) and Canada: its problems and prospects (1968). The former was widely used in colleges and universities in the United States and gready enhanced Watson's reputation in diat country. Botii of the texts were from die regional tradition, but Watson's work had also developed in otiier areas by die 1960s and it is this work that may perhaps be regarded ultimately as of more lasting importance. He pioneered social geography as a systematic specialization within geography, developing the concept of social distance, and in a number of studies focused on what he termed 'image geography' or the mental images people have of particular places and upon which diey base vital locational details. Towards the end of his career, Watson published two books on the United States diat brought togedier his keen awareness of regional variation and interest in social problems. Both A Social Geography of the United States (1979) and The United States: Habitation of Hope (1982) were substantial advances on traditional 'regional' texts. They demonstrated Watson's craft as a writer, in which literature and poetry were cited regularly to convey a more complete 'sense of place'. It is this that also distinguishes much of Watson's writing, giving it a particularly luminescent quality because of its style, finesse and literary quality. Indeed, Watson can be accurately described as a geographer-poet. He published four separate volumes of poetry and was awarded the Governor-General of Canada's Medal for Poetry in 1954 for Of Time and the Lover (published under die pseudonym James Wreford). Poetry and literature in his geographical writings were used as cogent illustrations of etiinic friction, class differentiation and urban poverty, to give vivid portrayals of American life. In 1983, the year of his retirement from the Edinburgh Chair, in his last major conference presentation, he championed 'Geography as an Art', stressing die importance to geographers of writers' and artists' depictions of places and landscapes. He stressed diat all the great writers on Nordi America bodi expressed and created goals in die lives of the citizenry which, in turn, made an impression on die landscape. His stated wish to place the geographer at the centre of die interrelationship between writer, people and landscape was a notable end-point to his career. There followed seven years of quiet retirement in soudi-west Scodand, punctuated by the receipt of numerous honours, before he died in 1990 shordy after the deadi of his wife.

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2. Scientific Ideas and Geographical Thought Amongst Wreford Watson's contributions to geographical thought, there are four that merit special attention: his treatment of social geography as a systematic study; his view of geography as a discipline in distance; his work on image regions; and, allied to the latter, his use of literature and poetry as source material for geographical analysis. Watson's detailed summary of the sociological aspects of geography was made in Griffith Taylor's edited volume Geography in the Twentieth Century (1951). His wide-ranging account assessed the contribution of social geography to physical geography, the cultural landscape, human regions, functional regions and the sociological concept of natural area. Whilst reflecting the overriding concern of geography at that time for the region, Watson provided several important statements about the nature of social geography. He also attempted to counter the prevailing emphasis upon 'natural regions' by stressing the importance of local cultures in shaping places and landscapes. He defined social geography as 'the identification of different regions of the earth's surface according to associations of social phenomena related to the total environment' (1951, p. 482). He illustrated these regions - social regions - with reference to his own studies of Hamilton, Ontario, depicting stages in their growth and referring to the ideas of social distance and social space. He drew upon the work of the Chicago school of social ecologists and utilized their now familiar terms: transition zones, cultural shatter-belts and distinct zones associated with different socio-economic groups. He recognized that while social groups might be separated merely by a railway line, in terms of social distance there could be a huge gulf between them. Social divisions were linked to the operation of commercial and administrative institutions, arguing that these institutions and businesses were critical in shaping the fundamental character of the city. In stressing the importance of a human-created social or cultural landscape, Watson highlighted the need for geographers to devote more attention to this aspect of regional differentiation. He referred to divisions between social classes as if they were physical divides, writing that: unless the geographer takes account of these social himalayas he cannot give an adequate, far less a complete picture of the geography of a region; but when he tries to consider them then certain patterns become obvious, that would otherwise be obscure, while the connections between patterns, and the explanation of their distributions, will be more evident. (1951, pp. 447-8) But while Watson gradually devoted more of his work to focusing upon social and cultural differentiation, his emphasis upon a social geography centred on social regions was not taken up specifically and developed by others working in this general area. Only tangentially, in the work of the factorial ecologists, did geographers use statistical data and techniques to distinguish the different intraurban regions that Watson had established by less formal means for Hamilton. Meanwhile, Watson developed his ideas of social distance and studied social regions in North America, showing how different groups of people built their own tastes and prejudices into systems of land development and settlement. Watson's principal statement on the nature of social distance was made in his inaugural lecture to the Edinburgh University Faculty of Arts upon his appointment to the University's Chair of Geography. His lecture's content foreshadowed one of the discipline's fundamental debates of the 1960s and 1970s concerning

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the importance of space and distance in the recognition of a distinct and clearly defined geography discipline. Despite his strong grounding in the regional tradition, Watson argued that geographers should look beyond the region to concepts of distance as the key influence on geographical enquiry. Simple Euclidean distance between points was not his concern but distance as perceived in the human mind, though he also cited time distance, cost distance and social distance as important elements that needed to be comprehended if geographers were to explain spatial distributions. Having introduced the idea of mental distances and mental maps of place carried by every individual, a theme he returned to in later work, Watson's inaugural address also set out his views on how regions should be properly analysed by geographers. He stressed the need for geographers to be aware of the evolution of phenomena over time, so that the dynamics of regions could be properly understood. Both perceptions of distance and the role of physical distance varied over time and had to be comprehended if the geographer was to capture the true nature of the regional dynamic. Hence his work on regions was set firmly in an historical-cultural context. This is best illustrated in a number of elegant descriptions of how settlement and economic growth in Canada responded to the natural environment. Within this he emphasized the importance of historical development as a factor in shaping current geography, highlighting the presence of relict features in contemporary landscapes which were representatives of earlier forces and processes. Much of Watson's research in the late 1960s and 1970s focused on his notions of how people's images of places and of their environment were translated into 'geographical reality'. This corresponded with the general move in the discipline towards more concern for the individual decision-maker and for the 'mental map' as a significant factor in those decisions. He argued that: not all geography derives from the earth; some of it springs from our ideas of the earth. This geography within our mind can at times be the effective geography to which men adjust. (1969, p. 10) Once again Canada provided fertile ground for this work, as its strong cultural contrasts and rich mosaic of cultures formed the subject matter for Watson to study the way in which different groups built their own tastes and prejudices into systems of land development and settlement. His later work focused on how personal tastes and individual decisions were translated into distinctive elements within particular cultural landscapes. Such differences as those between the enclosed, confined landscapes of French Quebec City and the open views of English Montreal were the subject matter for his investigations. There were two prime characteristics of this work. First, there was his concern for what he termed 'image geography'. In this he attempted to show how images of North America, held in the minds of the inhabitants, were used to transform the landscape to fit a particular image. He pioneered a type of geographical study subsequendy popularized by the writings of Yi-fu Tuan, Meinig, Gould, Lowenthal and Prince amongst others. Second, his concern with cultural landscape provided the opportunity for his love of literature to be incorporated in his geographical writing. As landscape had been eloquendy adumbrated by writers and poets, such as Watson himself, he argued that good prose and poetry were natural sources for geographers to utilize. For example, the writings of Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Mike Fink and John Steinbeck all played a role in expressing and creating goals in the lives of Americans, which

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then made an impression upon the land. Therefore this writing could be utilized as both valuable source material and as an embellishment to good geographical writing. However, it was literature as a primary source that he championed in his final major public lecture, his presidential address to the Institute of British Geographers in 1983. In this he referred to several of the great American writers and their role in portraying freedom-loving Americans who built up a market landscape in which the ethos of private enterprise and individual competition predominated. Watson's interest in image regions also carried a degree of practical application as he considered that they had a place within regional planning. This was a reflection of his desire for planners to cater for the views of people in a given region and to enable people to retain or create particular images. This was a particularly humane view of the planner's role which he expressed on a number of occasions in Scottish contexts, particularly with respect to Edinburgh where he was concerned that planners had permitted the introduction of discordant modernist buildings destroying the character of the New Town. He also participated in a major planning study of the Scottish Borders in the late 1960s, though this had little by way of concrete results.

3. Influence and Spread of Ideas It has been argued recentiy by R.J.Johnston (1993) that Watson's seminal views on social geography, perceptions of distance and image geography did not receive die recognition diey merited because of his limited involvement in 'networking' and the lack of publicity given to his innovatory views. By 'networking' Johnston refers to the fact that Watson, working primarily in Scodand and Canada, was outside the mainstream of geography in the English-speaking world. Had he been in Oxbridge, London, San Francisco or Chicago, his ideas might have been taken up more widely and had more immediate impact. The fact that 'Geography - a discipline in distance' was published in the Scottish Geographical Magazine ratiier than the Annals of the Association of American Geographers undoubtedly lessened its impact. Similarly, by not repeating in a major journal die ideas expressed in 'The sociological aspects of Geography', the impact of its content was reduced. Despite die relatively restricted nature of tiie immediate impact of his statements on social geography and image geography, Watson was well known throughout the geographical community in North America. His books on General Geography and North America, its countries and regions furthered a reputation that was already well established on the basis of his work on social regions in Hamilton and settiement patterns in southern Ontario. In Canada his role in founding geography departments at McMaster and Carleton and his time as Chief Geographer gave him a position of pre-eminence amongst Canadian geographers that lasted for several decades. It was enhanced by his position as Chairman of the Canadian Association of Geographers at die time when The Canadian Geographer was brought into existence. A number of Canadian students followed him to Edinburgh to carry out doctoral research under his guidance, a dozen or so returning to secure senior academic appointments. It should also be noted that Watson was presented with die Award of Merit by the Association of American Geographers before either of his first two major books had been published, but after he had written 'The sociological aspects of Geography'.

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If some of Watson's ideas were ahead of their time and not pursued immediately by other scholars, this did not prevent the quality of his work from being recognized. In Britain honours came both in mid-career, with awards from the Royal Geographical Society in 1960 and 1964, and later he was President of the Institute of British Geographers in 1983, the year of his retirement from the University of Edinburgh. Watson also held a number of important positions from which he helped to influence the development of his discipline. When the International Geographical Union met in Britain in 1964 he was asked to organize and co-edit a volume on the systematic geography of the British Isles. The resulting collection included contributions from a dozen major figures within British geography. The volume symbolized the continuing emergence of systematic specializations within the discipline and the gradual decline of the regional tradition that had been so important in Watson's early career. This change can also be seen in the changing content of Watson's own work. Watson was as a significant figure in shaping the direction of geography in Scotland, both in schools via his membership of the Scottish Examinations Board and more generally through four decades of committee work in the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. He was Vice-President of the Society from 1968 to 1976 and was then its President for 14 years, receiving its Gold Medal in 1984. At the national level he was also influential in helping to shape the direction of geographical research through his chairmanship of the Geography and Planning Committee of the Social Science Research Council from 1970 to 1975, and his membership of the British National Committee for Geography of the Royal Society. It was in these prestigious organizations that his work 'behind the scenes' complemented his wide-ranging published output to complete a well-rounded career. Overall, Wreford Watson will be best remembered by geographers for die quality of his writing which possessed a rare gift for conveying a real sense of place. This was achieved through his utilization of poetry and literature to good effect in his geographical writing. His work on social geography and concepts of distance deserve to be given greater recognition. In many respects they were ahead of their time as was his work on image regions, though his ideas on mental maps were soon adopted in die 'new' geography of die 1970s. In North America his reputation was founded on his writings in the regional tradition, tiiough he carried regional geography well beyond the radier narrow confines it occupied during his undergraduate days at Edinburgh. His legacy is most apparent in Canada where he pioneered the establishment of new university geography departments and helped establish a tradition of geographers practising their trade in government service. But in Canada and Scotland alike, memories are not of one Watson but two, for Wreford and his wife Jessie were a geographical team from their undergraduate days. Their collaboration in The Canadians, how they live and work (1978) gave them both much pleasure.

Bibliography and Sources 1. REFERENCES ONJAMES WREFORD WATSON Johnston, R.J., 'The geographer's degree of freedom: Wreford Watson, postwar progress in human geography, and the future of scholarship in UK geography', Progress in Human Geography, 17, pp. 319-32, 1993.

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Ley, D.F., 'Qualitative methods: reshaping a tradition', Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 16, pp. 167-70, 1992. Robinson, G.M., 'An appreciation of James Wreford Watson, with a bibliography of his work', in Robinson, G.M. (ed.), A social geography of Canada, Toronto, Dundurn Press, 1991, pp. 492-506. Obituaries in geographical journals were published as follows: Collins, L., Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, new series, 16, pp. 227-32, 1991. Crosbie, A.J., Scottish Geographical Magazine, 107, p. 95, 1991. Reeds, L., The Canadian Geographer, 35, p. 187, 1991. Robinson, G.M., Geographical Journal, 157, p. 244, 1991. 2. SELECTED WORKS BYJAMES WREFORD WATSON a. Geography 1939 'Forest or Man: Man die deciding factor', Scottish Geographical Magazine, 55, 148-62. 1943

'Urban developments in die Niagara Peninsula', Canadian Journal of Economic and Political Science, 9, 463-86.

1945

'Hamilton and its environs', Canadian Geographical Magazine, 32, 266-83.

1947

'Rural depopulation in SouUiwestern Ontario', Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 37, 145-54.

1948

'The influence of the frontier on Niagara settlements', Geographical Review, 38, 112-20.

1951

'The sociological aspects of Geography', in Taylor, G. (ed.), Geography in the Twentieth Century: a study of the growth, fields, techniques, aims and trends, New York, Philosophical Library, pp. 463-99.

1953

General Geography, Toronto, Copp Clark.

1954

'The pattern of Canada's post-war growth', Geography, 39, 163-75.

1955

'Geography - a discipline in distance', Scottish Geographical Magazine, 71, 1-13.

1956

'Population pressure and marginal lands', Scottish Geographical Magazine, 72, 107-21.

1959

(ed. with R. Miller) Geographical Essays in Honour of Alan G. Ogilvie, London, Thomas Nelson & Sons.

1962

'Canada and its regions', Scottish Geographical Magazine, 78, 137-49.

1963

North America, its countries and regions, London, Longman Green (2nd edn, 1968).

1964

(ed. with J.B. Sissons) The British Isles, a systematic geography, London, Thomas Nelson & Sons.

1964

(widi J. Oliver and C.H. Foggo) Bermuda, a geography, London, Collins.

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1964

(ed.) Twentieth International Geographical Congress, United Kingdom, 1964: Congress Proceedings, London, International Geographical Congress.

1965

'Canadian regionalism in life and letters', Geographical Journal, 131, 21-33.

1965

'Geography and growth in Scodand', Journal of Geography, 64, 398-414.

1968

Canada; its problems and prospects, Don Mills, Longman Canada.

1969

'The role of illusion in North American geography', Canadian Geographer, 13, 10-27.

1970

'Image geography: the mydi of America in die American scene', British Association for the Advancement of Science, 27, 1-9.

1970

'Developments in Scodand', Geographical Review, 60, 570-82.

1974

'The image of nature', in W.R. Mead (ed.), The United States, Aldine Press.

1976

'Adam Smith, Wealdi of Nations, and Edinburgh New Town', Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, series 4, Vol. 14.

1977

(ed. widi T. O'Riordan), The American environment, perspectives and policies, London, John Wiley & Sons.

1978

(widi Jessie W. Watson) The Canadians, how they live and work, Newton Abbot, David & Charles.

1979

Social Geography of the United States, London, Longman.

1979

'Edinburgh - concentradon and dispersal', Ekistiks, 46, 15-25.

1982

The United States: habitation of hope, London, Longman.

1983

'The soul of Geography', Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (new series) 8: 385-99.

1983

'Centre and periphery: the transfer of urban ideas from Britain to Canada', in Paten, J.H.C. (ed.), The expanding city: essays in honour of Professor Jean Gottmann, London, Academic Press, pp. 381-411.

1989

'People, prejudice and place', in Boal, F.W. and Livingstone, D.N. (eds), The behavioural environment: Essays in reflection, application and re-evaluation, London and New York, Roudedge, pp. 93-110.

b. Poetry *published under the pseudonym of James Wreford 1953*

Of Time and the Lover, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart.

1973*

Scotland: The Great Upheaval, Edinburgh, Bonaly Press.

1979*

Countryside Canada, Fredericton, NB, Fiddlehead Press.

1985 The Wounds of Love, Kippford, Dumfries and Galloway, Watson. Guy M. Robinson is Professor and Head, School of Geography, Kingston University, Surrey, UK

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Chronology 1915

Born in Shensi, China, the son of Scottish Presbyterian missionaries

1921

Attended British School at Ruling

1926

Attended George Watson's School, Edinburgh

1931

Freshman at University of Edinburgh, reading Geography

1935

Graduated with First Class Honours degree; recipient of Vans Dunlop Scholarship, awarded the RSGS Medal as die most outstanding Geography graduate in Scotland

1936

Assistant Lecturer, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield

1939

Began Ph.D at University of Toronto under Griffidi Taylor; Lecturer in Geography, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario; married Jessie W. Black

1945

Appointed inaugural Professor of Geography, McMaster University

1949

Appointed inaugural Professor of Geography, Carleton University, Ottawa; holds office of Head of the Geographical Branch of die Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, Canada

1952

Award of Merit, Association of American Geographers

1953

Organizing Chairman of the Canadian Association of Geographers; Apointed Professor of Geography at University of Edinburgh

1954

Awarded the Governor-General of Canada's Medal for Poetry; became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

1958

Became Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

1960

Awarded Murchison Medal, Royal Geographical Society

1964

Awarded the Research Medal, Royal Geographical Society

1970

President of die Geography section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

1976

President of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (until 1989)

1978

Special Award for services to Canadian Geography from Canadian Association of Geographers

1980s

Received honorary degrees from five Canadian universities: York, Queen's, Carleton, Calgary and McMaster

1983

President of the Institute of British Geographers; retired from University of Edinburgh

1984

Awarded Northern Telecom International Prize; Gold Medallist of the International Council of Canadian Studies; Gold Medallist of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

1990

Died, Kippford, Dumfries and Galloway

Index The index is divided into two parts: 1. A general index, including personal names, organizations, conferences, societies, and geographical concepts, theories and research. 2. A cumulative list of biobibliographies which includes all the geographers listed in volumes 1-17 inclusive.

1. GENERAL INDEX A Description of the Isles of Orkney 86 A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland 86 'A Discourse Anent Improvements may be made in Scotland for Advancing die Wealth of the Kingdom' 84, 87 A History of Polar Exploration 34 A Late Voyage to St. Kilda 86 A Naturalist at the Poles 17 A Social Geography of the United Stales 108 A student's manual oflithology and petrology 10 Abbasids, the 1-2 Aberdeen University, Scodand 20, 23 Aborigines attack on expedition party 56, 57 edinographic study 55, 61 expedition membership 56, 57, 62, 65 Academia de les Bones Lletres (Arts Academy), Spain 95 Academy of Sciences, Russia 70, 71, 75, 77 Act of Union (UK 1707) 84 Acta (Academy of Science, Russia) 71, 75 Adair, John 84, 86 administrative institutions 109 'Advertisement anent Surveying al the Shyres of Scotland' 86 Advertisement (Sibbald) 84 afforestation 77 Agalega Island 45 agriculture Pallas 72, 75, 76, 77 Sibbald 85 al-Mamun (Caliph) 1

al-Balkhi, Abu Mashar Jafar ibn 2 al-Balkhi, Abu Zaid 7 al-Farghani 1 al-Khwarizmi 1 al-Kindi, Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn al-Sabah vii, 1-7 biographical details 1-2, 8 influence and spread of ideas 7 scientific ideals and geographical thought 2-7 al-Masudi 7 al-Mutasim (Caliph) 1 al-Mutawakkil (Caliph) 2, 7 al-Nadim 2 al-Sarakhsi, Ahmed ibn al-Tayyib {muhtasib, Baghdad) 7 al-Wathiq (Caliph) 2 Alaska 31, 35 Alert, HMS 28 Alert weather station 33 Aleutian Islands 76, 78 Alexander I (Russia) 72 Alpine Club 11 Alps Bonney viii, 9, 11-12 Pallas and Saussure 74-5 Altay mountains 75 American Geographical Society 23, 33 American Weather 30, 35 An Alias of Current Affairs 98 animals Alpine 9 aquatic/marine species 19-20, 23, 87 domestic 77 expedition livestock 56, 64

118 Index extinction and emergence of species 74 polar regions 19-20, 23, 32 see also birds; entymology; zoology Annates 94, 98, 100 Annals of the Association of American Geography 111 Antarctic 17,19-20, 21-2, 23 anthropology al-Kindi 3 Leichhardt 61 Pallas 72, 76 Aproximacum a la Historia de Espana (Approach to Spanish History) 94 aqueducts 2 Aral Sea 75 Archaean rocks viii, 13 archaeology 72, 74, 76 Arctic Greely 28-31, 32-5 Pallas 74 Arctic Zoology 74 Aristode 3, 5, 73, 83 Armenian people 76 Armitage, Albert 20 art, role of 108 Asia climatology 47 imports from 77 separation from Alaska 78 see also China; Iraq Association of American Geographers 111 Astrakhan 72 astronomy 1, 2, 3-4 Atlantic Ocean 23 Atlas geograficheskikh otkrytiy v Sibiri i v severo-zapadnoy America (Atlas of Geographical Discoveries in Siberia and North-west America) 78 adases Pallas and Yefimov 78 Pitt's proposedGrai/ Atlas 86 Sibbald's proposed Scottish 82, 85, 86 Vicens Vives 93, 96 Watson 107-8 Australia viii, 52, 55-61, 62-6 Auvergne 55 Azov, Sea of 76 Bacon, Roger 7 Baeza High School, Spain 94 Baghdad 1, 7 Bague\ Enric 93 Bahr al-Habashe 5 Baker, Henry 69 Bakhchisarai 72 Baku 75 Balaena expedition 19-20 Balfour, Andrew 83 Ballester i Castel, Rafael 92 Banks, Joseph 69 Barcelona University, Spain ix, 92, 94, 100 Barcoo River 59 Barrow station, Alaska 28 Baykal, Lake 70-1, 74 Bear Island 20

Becquerel, Antoine Cesar 59 Belousov, V.V. 74, 79 Ben Nevis meterological observatory 17 Berg, L.S. 78 Bering, Vitus 78 Berlin botanical gardens 69 Berlin University, Germany 53 Berton, Pierre 29, 30, 34, 37 Biografies Catalanes (Catalan Biographies) 95 biology 73, 74 birds, polar regions 20, 22, 23, 33 Biscoe Sea 23 Black, Jessie (m. Watson) 107, 108, 112 Black Sea 74, 75, 76 Blencathra (yacht) 20 Bloch, Marc 94, 96 Bochart, Samuel 85 Boecking, Henry 56 Bombat, Billy 57 Bonnet, Charles 73 Bonney, Thomas George viii, 9-16 biographical details 9-11, 15-16 influence and spread of ideas 13-14 scientific ideas and geographical thought 11-13 Bosch i Gimpera, Pedro 92-3 botany Leichhardt 53, 55, 58, 62-3, 64 Pallas viii, 69, 70, 74, 77, 83 Sibbald 83, 87 boundaries 98-9 Boyle, Sir Robert 83 Brandt, Karl 20 Braudel (Annales school) 97, 98 bridges 2 Brisbane 55 Britain 12, 112 see also England; Scodand; Wales Britannia 84, 86 British Antarctic expedition (1839-43) 19 British Association for die Advancement of Science 10, 17,47 British Columbia University, Canada Kendrew 46 Watson 108 British Meterological Office 48 British Museum 69 British Zoology 70 Brongniart, Adolphe 53 Brodiers of Purity, Basra 7 Brown, Harry 56 Bruce, William Speirs viii—bt, 17-25 biographical details 18-22, 25 influence and spread of ideas 23 scientific ideas and geographical thought 23 Buchan, Sir Alexander 19 Buchanan, Sir John 19, 20 Buffon, Georges 70, 73, 78 Bulletin of the Royal Spanish Geographical Society 97 Bunce, Daniel 56, 57, 62 Burdekin River 56 Burnoch, William Burns 20 Bushing, Anton 78 bushmanship 52, 62, 64

Index Calgary University, Canada 108 Calvert, James 56 Cambridge University, UK 10 Cambridgeshire geology: a sketch for the use of students 10 Camden, William 84, 85 Campania 55 Canada: its problems and prospects 108 Canada Kendrew 46, 47 Watson ix, 106, 108-10, 112 Canadian Association of Geographers 111 Carleton University, Canada 107 Carpentaria, Gulf of 56, 59 Cartesian systematic philosophy 87 cartography al-Kindi 1 Bruce 17, 22 Leichhardt 64 Sibbald 84, 86 Vicens Vives 96, 99 Caspian Sea 70-1, 72, 74, 75 Catalan Biographies (Biografies Catalanes) 95 Catalan University Studies (Estudis Universitaris Catalans) 83 Catalonia ix, 92, 93, 94-5 political sectors 95 Catherine II (Russia) 68, 70, 71, 72 Caucasus region 76 Cecil Plains, Australia 57 Centre of Canadian Studies 108 Centro de Estudios Hist6ricos Internacionales (International Historical Research Institute), Barcelona 94 Centro Superior de Investigaciones Cientfficas (Higher Institute of Scientific Research), Barcelona 94 Cercle d'Economia (Economics Society), Spain 95 Challenger Expedition 19 Charles II (England) vii Charleton, Walter 83 chemistry 83 Cherkassk 72 Chicago school of social ecologists 109 China 47, 107 China, the Land and the People 47 chorography vii, 84, 85-6 Church of England Training College 23 Clarke, Rev. W.B. 59 Classen (expedition member) 58 classical geography vii-viii, 1, 2, 85 classification life forms - Pallas 69, 72-4 world climates - Kendrew 48 'Climate' 44 Climate: A Treatise on the Principles of Weather and Climate ix, 45, 47 Climates of the Continents be, 44, 46, 47, 48 Climatology ix, 45, 47, 48 climatology al-Kindi ix, 3 Kendrew ix, 45, 46, 47-9 Pallas 74, 75 Vicens Vives (Huntingdon's study) 98

119

Clio 92 Cluverius vii-viii, 85 coal 65 Coats, Andrew 20, 21 Coats, James 21 Coats Land 22 Collinson, Peter 69, 73 Columbian College of Arts and Sciences ix, 36 Comet River 65 commerce 76, 77, 87, 109 communications 72, 98 telegraphic 27, 31, 35 construction 2 Contemplation de la Nature 73 Contributions to the Geology of New Holland 61 Cook, Capt James 69, 76 Coolidge, Calvin (US President) 36 Cooper Creek 58 Coral Reef Committee, Royal Society 10 coral reefs 10 cosmology 87 Cosmos Club ix Washington DC 26, 35-6 Coxe, Archdeacon William 78 crafts 70, 72, 76, 77 Cuba 35 culture Vicens Vives 98, 99 Watson 109, 110-11 Curzon, Lord 36 customs 70, 84-5 Cuthbertson, William 22 Cuvier, Le6pold 74, 75 Dana, James Dwight 10 Darling Downs 57 Darwin, Australia 59 Darwin, Charles 9, 10, 13, 14, 74 Davis, W.M. 44 Dawson Valley 56 De infestis inventibus intra inventia 69 de la Torre, Antonio de 92, 94 de Schiitz, General 77 deforestation 47 Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, Canada 107 Department of Transport, Canada 46 Description of the Inhabited Parts of the Earth vii, 2 'Description of Scotland' 87 Destino 93, 96, 97 Digby, Sir Kenelm 83 Discovery expeditions 21, 28 Discovery Harbour 28 distance, concepts of 109-10, 111, 112 Dobson, G.M.B. 44-5 Dogger Bank 12 drainage patterns, Queensland, Australia 60 Drummond, Patrick 83 Dublin Philosophical Society 84 Dudley Buxton, L.H. 47 Durando, Gaetano 62, 64 earthquakes explanation of causes 3

120 Index San Francisco ix, 31-2 eclogites 13 ecology 17,19 economics Leichhardt 53 Pallas 77 Sibbald 85 Vicens Vives ix, 94-5, 98 Economics Society (Cercle d'Economia), Spain 95 Edinburgh 111 Edinburgh University Bruce 19 Sibbald 83, 84, 87 Watson 106,107,112 Edinburgh Zoo 23 educational publishing viii, 92, 93, 94, 96, 100 Egypt 5-6 El gran sindicato remensa 1488-1508 (The Great 'Remensa' Confederacy 1488-1508) 94 Elenchus Zoophytorum and Miscellanea Zoologica 70 Ellesmere Island 28, 29, 33 Ellis, J. 69 Endeavour 69 Endurance expedition 23 engines 2 England Bonney 12-13 Pallas 69 entomology 69, 71, 73 equatorial regions, al-Kindi 3 erosion, ice as agent 11 Espana, Geopolitica del Estado y del Imperio (Spain, Geopolitics of State and Empire) 93, 96, 97, 100 Essex 69 Estudios de Hisloria Moderna (Studies in Modern History) 94 Estudios Geograficos (Geographical Studies) 97 Esludis Universitaris Catalans (Catalan University Studies) 93 ethnography 55, 61, 76 Eureka weather station 33 Expedition Range 56 exploration Bonney viii, 11 Bruce viii-ix, 19-22 Greely viii-ix, 28-30 Leichhardt viii, 52, 56, 64 Pallas viii, 68, 70, 72 extinctions 74 extractive industry 77 Eyre, Edward John 59 Falk, J.P. 70 Febvre, Lucien 94, 96, 98 Fens, Cambridgeshire 13 Ferran II i la Ciutat de Barcelona 1479-1516 (Ferdinand II and the City of Barcelona 1479-1516) 93 fieldwork Bonney10 Bruce 17-18 Leichhardt 58, 60, 64 Fife 85 Figueres High School, Spain 93

Finnes, Robert 19-20 First Polar Year 28, 29 First Readings in History (Historia, Primeras Lecturas) 96 fisheries 87 flight, manned 35 Flood Protection Service 26 Flora Rossica 71 fog 5 folk costume 72 Fontana, Josep 100 forestry 77 Fort Conger 28, 29, 32, 33, 34 fossils 53, 75 Fram 20, 32, 34 France Leichhardt 55 Pallas 73, 74 Franco, General Francisco 93, 97 Franz Josef Land 20 French Geographical Society 65 From Edinburgh to the Antarctic 20 Funafuti Atoll 10 Geddes, Arthur 107 Geddes, Sir Patrick 19 Geissler, C.G.H. 71, 72 General Geography 106, 107, 111 General Modern History (Historia General Moderna) 94 General Treatise on Geopolitics (Tratdo General de Geopolitica) 93, 96, 97 Generalitat de Catalunya 93 geodesy vii, 1, 2 Geographia Generalis 85 Geographica Sacra 85 Geographical Studies (Estudios Geograficos) 97 Geographie sociale: le sol et I'Etat 97 'Geography as an Art' 108 Geography in the Twentieth Century 109 geohistory, use of the term 97, 99 Geological Magazine 11 Geological Society 10, 13 geology Bonney viii, 9, 10 Leichhardt 55, 58, 60, 64 Pallas 71, 72, 74, 75 geomorphology 11, 12 Geopolitica 93, 97-8 geopolitics 92, 93, 96-9,100 George Washington University, USA 36 Georgi, J.G. 70 Georgievsk 72 Gerard of Cremona 7 Gerasimov, LP. 78 German colonies, Russia 76 Germany, geopolitics 97-8 Gilbert, John 56, 62 Gipps, Governor (Australia) 55 Giralt, Emili 100 Girona University, Spain 94 glaciology Bonney 11-12,14 Bruce 22 Pallas 74-5

Index Gladstone, William Ewart 36 Gleditsch.Johann-Gottlieb 69 Glen Roy, Parallel Roads of 14 Gmelin, S.G. 70, 76 gneisses 12-13 Gordon, James 87 Gordon, Robert 86, 87 Gdttingen University, Germany 53, 69 gravity al-Kindi 2 Greely 33 Great Atlas 86 Great Britain^* Britain; England; Scodand; Wales Great Divide, Australia 56, 60 Greek colonies, Black Sea 76 Greely, Adolphus Washington viii-ix, 26-42 biographical details 27-32, 40-2 influence and spread of ideas 35-6 scientific ideas and geographical thought 32-5 Greely Fiord 29 Greenland 12, 29, 33, 34 Gregory, Augustus 62 Guillen, Lorenzo {pseud. Jaume Vicens Vives) 93 Guldenstadt.J.S. 70 Gvozdev, M.S. 78 hail 6-7 Hamburg Polar Conference 32, 34 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 35 Handbook of Polar Discoveries 35 Harvey-Pirie.J.H. 22 Hazen, Gen. 28, 30 Hazen, Lake 29, 34 Hecla (converted whaler) 21 Hely, Hovenden 56 Hentig (expedition member) 57 Herbart.Johann 53 Herbertson, AJ. 44, 46, 48 Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh 23 Higher Institute of Scientific Research (Centro Superior de Investigaciones Cientfficas), Barcelona 94 Hill, Rev E. 14 Hispatensis, Johannes 7 Histoire naturelle 73 Historia de Catalunya (History of Catalonia) 93 Historia de las Remensas en el siglo XV (History of the 'Remensas' in the 15th Century) 94 Historia General Moderna (General Modern History) 94 Historia, Primeras Lecturas (First Readings in History) 96 historical geography Pallas 76, 78 Vicens Vives 93-5, 95-8, 98-9,100 Watson 110 historiography ix, 92, 93, 94-5, 100 History of Catalonia 93 Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton 19 Hopen 20 horticulture 77 Hortus medicus Edinburgensis 83 Howgate, Capt. 28 Hume, Andrew 57-8 Hutton, James 74

121

hydrostatic balance 2 ibn-Hawqal 7 ice continental ice-sheet 12 polar regions viii-ix, 32 see also glaciology Ice-work past and present 11 Icones Inseclorum praesertim Rossiae Sibiraesque peculiarium 71 Illustrationes planarum 71 'image' geography 108,109, 111 Imperial Academy, Russia 70 Indian Ocean 45 Indice Historuci Espanol (Spanish Historical Index) 94 Institut-Escola de Barcelona 93 Institute of British Geographers 111, 112 International Geographical Congress (London 1895) 17,21,36 International Geographical Union 112 International Geophysical Year 29 International Historical Research Institute (Centro de Estudios Hist