The decision to establish a station for geophysical observations in Antarctica was one of the most important steps taken by the Royal Society to promote the aims of the International Geophysical Year. Antarctic exploration has long attracted men of science. In 1861, almost a century before the I. G. Y., Commander Maury of the U. S. Navy, a distinguished pioneer meteorologist, wrote to this country pleading the cause of international co-operation in the scientific exploration of the Antarctic. In reply to the question
cui bono?
Maury said: ‘ . . .it is enough for me, when contemplating the vast extent of that unknown region, to know that it is a part of the surface of our planet, and to remember that the Earth was made for man; that all knowledge is profitable; that no discoveries have conferred more honour and glory upon the age in which they were made, or have been more beneficial to the world, than geographical discoveries, and that never were nations so well prepared to undertake Antarctic exploration as are those that I now solicit’ (Maury 1861). Yet, despite this plea, few landings were made on the continent in the nineteenth century, and the first wintering in the Antarctic was that of the
Belgica
in 1897-99. After that the pace quickened. During the early years of the present century there were many notable expeditions, especially by Scott (1901-04) and Shackleton (1907-09), culminating in the tragic Scott expedition of 1910-13 which established bases at Cape Evans and Cape Adare and made more extensive observations in meteorology, geomagnetism, atmospheric electricity and geology than ever before. The early explorers expected hardship and were prepared for peril. As Sir George Simpson, one of the scientist members of the last Scott expedition, says ‘In 1910 only wooden ships were used to penetrate ice-covered seas; the only energy available for transport over snow-covered land was the animal power of men, dogs and ponies; there was no communication with the outside world and scurvy was the chief, almost the only, danger to health.’
Wildlife Conservation in the Antarctic
