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UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Science in extremis : The 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7kq423tz Author Clements, Philip William Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Science in extremis: The 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History (Science Studies) by Philip William Clements Committee in charge: Professor Cathy Gere, Co-Chair Professor Tal Golan, Co-Chair Professor Martha Lampland Professor John B. West Professor Robert S. Westman 2015 Copyright Philip William Clements, 2015 All rights reserved The Dissertation of Philip William Clements is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Co-Chair _______________________________________________________ Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2015 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................v Vita .................................................................................................................................. viii Abstract of the Dissertation .............................................................................................. ix Introduction .........................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: Creating the Locale .....................................................................................12 Chapter Two: A Method to Suit the Locale, a Locale to Match the Method ...................44 Chapter Three: Mr. Dyhrenfurth goes to Washington ......................................................82 Chapter Four: "The Facts" of the Abode of Snow ..........................................................144 Chapter Five: The Realities of Reality-Testing ..............................................................197 Chapter Six: "Climb the Damn Mountain!" Precision, Objectivity, and Personal Interest ..........................................................................................................................................236 Chapter Seven: Science in extremis ................................................................................267 Chapter Eight: From Local to Global .............................................................................299 Recapitulation and Conclusion .......................................................................................359 Works Cited ....................................................................................................................366 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS What a culmination! This project was realized with the enduring support of the Science Studies Program at the University of California – San Diego. Guided by Robert S. Westman and Martha Lampland during my tenure, its faculty and students were an unceasing source of enlightenment and fellowship. The 2008-2009 cohort, Amanda Bristol, Rodolfo John Alaniz, Joan Donovan, Alexandra Vinson, Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam, Lisa Paschall, and Mark Walters, showed me new ways of thinking. Arriving shortly thereafter, Kristopher Nelson, Audrey Price, and Natalie Aviles played equal parts in broadening my disciplinary horizons. A second group of peers and advisors showed me that this project was feasible. Without the 2010 Spaces of Inquiry group, sponsored by the Social Science Research Council's Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship, my Everest dreams would have remained just that. Thanks to Stuart W. Leslie, Carla Yanni, Majed Akhter, Roberto Chauca Tapia, Aimi Hamraie, Christopher H. Heaney, Jennifer Frances Kosmin, Kathleen Curry Oberlin, Karen R. Robbins, Brittany A. Shields, James Dalgoff Skee, Jenna Ton, and Sara M. Witty for encouraging me to explore phenomenological geography in Nepal's Himalaya. John Muir College's Writing Center kept food on the table and facilitated my project's infusion with environmental history. Carrie Wastal, Marion E. Wilson, and Helen Mout created an environment that promoted growth for their teaching cohort. How lucky we were. v My archival-research trips crisscrossed the United States, supported by the Social Science Research Council, Friends of the Princeton Library, the George C. Marshall / Baruch Foundation, and UCSD's Department of History, Science Studies Program, and Center for the Humanities. The Columbia History of Science Group made my first exploratory conference presentation possible, and the History of Science Society connected my work with Michael Reidy and Michael Robinson, whom influenced it. The archivists at the National Geographic Society, American Mountaineering Center, Princeton University Library, University of Washington Special Collections Library, University of California Bancroft Library, and Royal Society of London Library were essential to my collection and deployment of archival resources. When closer to home, the Kenneth E. and Dorothy V. Hill Fellowship supported my work at UCSD's Mandeville Special Collections Library. Correspondence with Norman G. Dyhrenfurth, Tom Hornbein, and the late James T. Lester was always encouraging. Dyhrenfurth's critique of my prospectus emphasized his continued commitment to AMEE's achievements as a team. Hornbein's advice against catching this "tiger by its tale" helped me keep perspective on a project that consistently threatened to sprawl. Even late in life, Lester's confidence breathed vitality into old carbon paper and Kodachrome slides. I wish that I had met him. Frank Powell, Susan Hopkins, Rachel Zarndt, and the staff of the University of California's Barcroft Station introduced me to high-altitude research in California's White Mountains. Dr. Andre Verceuil and the investigators of Xtreme Everest 2 amazed me with it at Kathmandu, Namche Bazaar, and Mt. Everest Base Camp. My interaction with vi both groups showed me the fruitful relationships that science studies scholars should create with scientific practitioners. Without Mike Tamoush, the Himalaya would have been much quieter. Without Steve Caput, I would have never discovered my research questions within Maurice Isserman and Stewart Weaver's history. Mark Hineline served as a constant source of inspiration, and John B. West's advice and scholarship were indispensable. My family's support was inexhaustible. Thank you Mom and Julie for always having my back. Thanks to Dad for instilling a love of Earth's wild places. Any good that comes from this dissertation is owed to my co-advisors Cathy Gere and Tal Golan. Their unceasing encouragement, careful mentorship, exacting standards, and telepathic ability to divine meaning from my literary meanderings transformed a series of short seminar papers into the terminal work of my graduate career. Expert guides and heavy lifters, they fixed the lines, stocked the camps, and roused me up the mountain. Finally, Ash… you are my pole star, my anchor, my stopper. This is for you. Namaste. vii VITA 2005 Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, California State University, Chico 2007 Master of Arts, History, California State University, Chico 2015 Doctor of Philosophy, History of Science, University of California, San Diego FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: 20th Century History of Science Professors Cathy Gere and Tal Golan Minor Field: Science Studies Professor Martha Lampland Minor Field: Early Modern History of Science Professor Robert S. Westman viii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Science in extremis: the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition by Philip William Clements Doctor of Philosophy in History (Science Studies) University of California, San Diego, 2015 Professor Cathy Gere, Co-Chair Professor Tal Golan, Co-Chair An interdisciplinary work of Science Studies and environmental history, Science in extremis investigates how scientific, political, and public traditions constitute the spaces and products of scientific inquiry. Together with the place of inquiry, they determine the character of knowledge produced therein. The 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition's biophysical, geological, sociological, and psychological research programs are exemplars of this process. Its scientists constructed an environmental imaginary toward Mt. Everest that allowed them to deploy it as an analog for Cold War theaters by coupling contemporary American ideologies with the masculinism and nationalism that connoted post-war Himalayan expeditions. The mountain's extreme environment was constructed as a laboratory, and its lack of experimental controls became an asset for scientists and sponsors who favored "reality" over "simulation." ix Once in the field, the observers were subjected to the same phenomena as their test-subjects. They encountered difficulty transporting the materials, methods, and norms of