First International Polar Year, 1882-83

ARCTIC VOL. 34, NO. 4 (DECEMBER 1981), P. 370-376 First InternationalPolar Year, 1882-83 C .J . TAYLOR’ ABSTRACT. During 1882-83 eleven countries cooperated in a project to study the geophysics and geodesy of the polar regions by establishing 14 research stations. Three of these were located in Canada’s Arctic: one each by the United States, Germany and Britain. They accumulated dataon terrestial magnetism and boreal phenomena and brought back valuable informationon arctic living. This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the first mathematical work. With his colleague Wilhelm Weber he International Polar Year, probably the most ambitious of established in 1836 the Gottingen Magnetic Union(Mag- 19th-century international scientific projects and the fore- netische Verein) which united a world-wide network of runner of more recent cooperative ventures such as Inter- observatories. Gauss delineated the three categories of national Geophysical Year. Eleven countries launched 14 geomagnetic observations - declination, inclination, and expeditions - 12 in the Arctic and two in the southern intensity - and invented instruments for the accurate hemisphere - and the accumulated data furthered the measurement of these phenomena.He also deviseda sched- world’s knowledge of meteorology, geomagnetism and ule of observations so that data would be collected inthe boreal phenomena. Of the ten arctic researchstations that same way at identical times around the globe (Dictionary were ultimately established during IPY, three were in of Scientific Biography, 1972). Canada: Fort Rae (British), Lady FranklinBay, Ellesmere Meanwhile the British scientificestablishment was also Island (U.S.) and Clearwater Fiord,Baf€in Island (German). affected by positivist notions of fact gathering, and Auxiliary observatories were established by the German geomagnetic surveys became among the most ambitious polar year committeeat six Moravian missions Labradorin of its schemes. The most active British promoter of a and the Toronto Observatory took the same observations global studyof magnetism was EdwardSabine, an officer as the arctic research stations. Although Canada did not in the Royal Artillerywho was also closely connected with participate directly (except from Toronto) in the IPY, it the Royal Society of London. Sabine reactivated the old partially funded the British expedition and two other im- Royal Observatory at Kew as a magnetic station and began portant arctic stations were established on what is now a campaign to establish similar magnetic observatories Canadian territory. across the Empire. He was an associate and keensupporter Scientific curiosity in the north was associated with an of James Clark Ross, the naval captain who by 1839 had interest in the earth’s magnetism. By the end of the 17th located both the north and the south magnetic poles. The century it was known that the earth possessed magnetic two collaborated on a magnetic survey of Great Britain. In fields organized around north and south magnetic poles. 1838, the British government, influenced by German Besides beingof obvious interest to navigators, it wasalso endeavours and pushed by Sabine, agreed to support the believed that terrestrial magnetism was connected with establishmentof a network of magneticobservatories across weather patterns and other phenomena such as the aurora the empire. Soonafter, an observatory was built Toronto,in borealis. By the early 19th century scientists were inter- the ancestorof the present structure near Hart House on ested in explaining terrestrial magnetism and determining the university campus. These observatories were admin- how, if at all, it was connected with other phenomena istered by the Royal Society and directly supervised by (Cawood, 1979:497). Scientists had been trying to solve Sabine. The original personnel were also appointed by him such universal problems since the time of the Greeks and and the first head of the Toronto Observatory was there- since the Renaissance had had a measure of success using fore a British Army officer, CaptainJ.H. Lefroy. In 1843-44 ,mathematics to determine the unknown. But in the 19th Lefroy travelled to Hudson Bay and the Mackenzie River . century, for a variety of reasons including a belief in valley to observe the earth’smagnetic field inits northern inductive reasoning, there arose a passion for collecting latitudes. This enthusiasm for making magnetic observa- facts on a large scale. So, although mathematicians con- tions linked with Gauss and Sabine has been termed the tinued to search for answersin formulae, others began to “magnetic fever” or the “magnetic crusade” by scientific collect harddata. One of the first to attempt this approach historians(Cawood, 1979). Although it had become to understand terrestial magnetism appears to have been unfashionable bythe second half ofthe century,it provided the German Alexander von Humboldt, who began making many precedentsfor subsequentglobal scientific endeavours. magnetic observations while touringSouth America inthe But geomagnetism wasnot the only branch of geophys- 1820s and subsequently established a network of trans- ics interested in global observations. The emerging sci- European observatories. He was followed by his coun- ence of meteorology was predicated on the synoptic ap- tryman, mathematician Carl Freidrich Gauss, who wanted proach, or the idea that a series of identical observations a broadly-spaced series of observatories to supplement his taken at regular intervals in space and time were essential ‘National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaKIA IG2 FIRST INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR 371 to the understanding of weather patterns. An international camps tendedto be laid out after a preconceived standard conference was held in Brussels in 1853 to organize the plan. It was usual for anexpedition to build a rectangular coordination of meteorological observations at sea. And residence which in some cases had a mast with an ane- national organizations took shape to initiate large-scale mometer and wind-direction vane linkedto allow observa- and continuingweather studies. In 1855 the British Board tions to be taken from within. A short distance away of Trade established a MeteorologicalDepartment, initial- would be a small one-room cabinconstructed with either ly supervised by the Royal Society, which numbered among copper nails or wooden pegs and containing instruments its responsibilities the observation and recording of com- for magnetic observations. A louvred shed (called a pass variations,aurorae and fallingstars (Sutton, 1961:77). Stevenson Screen) would be built for the meteorological In other countries meteorology usually came under the instruments: wet and dry bulb thermometer, maximum- aegis of a national scientificsociety, as in Germany, or the minimum thermometer, hair hygrometer, barometer and army, as in the United States. TheCanadian Government rain gauge. The schedule of International Polar Year es- established the Meteorology Branch of the Department of tablished at the St. Petersburg Conference demanded that Marine and Fisheries in 1871 (Thomas, 1971:7). each station take hourly observations of these instruments Considering the early and active participation of Germanyduring a ten-hour periodevery day from 1 September 1882 and Great Britain in studies of terrestrial magnetism, it is to 31 August 1883. It also prescribed that on the first and surprising that the first proponentof a coordinated interna- fifteenth dayof each month a special timetablebe followed: tional studyof the geophysics of the polar regions was not readings to be taken every fifteen minutes over a 24-hour a citizen of one of these countries but an Austrian named period, and during one hour two readings to be taken Carl Weyprecht. But takinginto account the vicissitudes every 120 seconds. This was called a termor day Gottingen of European politics and the chauvinism of British and Civil Day and the procedure had been devised by Carl German scientists, a man like Weyprecht was probably Gauss. On these days all observations were to be noted ideal for initiating aproject requiring international coop- according to Gottingen mean time. These were to be ob- eration. Weyprecht was a lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarianligatory observations; in addition moststations carried out navy. In 1875 he returned from an expedition to Franz voluntary programs: observing earth and water temperatures Josef Land in the Barents Sea with the conviction that and monitoring other astronomical, meteorological and coordinated scientific investigation in the Arctic would magnetic phenomena. be much more productivethan solely geographic explora- By the second conference in 1880 there were only six tion. Weyprecht first presented his views at a meeting of countries actually committedto establishing arcticor Ant- the Academy of Sciences in Vienna early in 1875 and arctic research stations: Austria-Hungary, Norway, Sweden, elaborated themat a meeting theof Association of German Denmark, Russia, and the United States. France and Holland Naturalists and Physicists later that year (Heathcote and participated inthe conference but remained uncommitted. Armitage, 1959:6). He was delayed in bringing his ideas The two most experienced countries from the point of before an international forum by the conflict between view of geomagnetic studies - Germany and Great Brit- Russia and Turkey, until 1879 when he addressed the ain - were conspicuously absent from

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