Science and the Canadian Arctic, 1818-76, from Sir John Ross to Sir George Strong Nares

Nineteenth-century exploration of the Canadian Arctic, primarily directed by the British Admiralty, had scientific as well as geographical goals. Many expeditions, including Franklin's, had a major scientific mandate. A northwest passage was the initial inspiration, but geomagnetism (under Edward Sabine's guidance), meteorology, zoology, geology, botany, and ethnology were the principal sciences that benefited. The Royal Society of London, with its Arctic Committee, was closely involved with the Admiralty in recommending scientific programs and in nominating observers to the expeditions. Naval officers too were much concerned with science; some, including Parry and James Ross, were elected fellows of the Royal Society of London (F.R.S.). From John Ross through Parry to Franklin, scientific arctic voyages were strongly promoted. Geomagnetism, natural history, and meteorology were particularly prominent. During the searches for Franklin, the life sciences, geology, and meteorology continued to benefit, while geophysical researches were relatively neglected. After the Franklin disaster, geographical and other scientific exploration languished until the example of other nations and domestic lobbying persuaded the British government to send Nares north in 1875-76. This was the last of the old-style scientific expeditions to the Canadian Arctic. Afterwards, co-operation in science (as in the International Polar Year) and concern for the Arctic as national territory became dominant factors in arctic exploration.Key words: science, history, Canada, geomagnetism, natural history, geology, J. Ross, W.E. Parry, J. Franklin, G.S. NaresMots clés: science, histoire, Canada, géomagnétisme, histoire naturelle, géologie, J. Ross, W.E. Parry, J. Franklin, G.S. Nare

Edward Sabine (1788-1883)

... After the Napoleonic wars, he, like many others in the British army and the Royal Navy, found himself underemployed; he chose to pursue scientific studies, notably in ornithology, astronomy, and magnetism. In 1818 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and shortly thereafter found himself appointed astronomer to John Ross's expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Ross sailed in May on the Isabella, accompanied by William Edward Parry on H.M.S. Alexander. Sabine was far more than the expedition astronomer. He carried out observations in natural history and anthropology, publishing his biological results and an account of the West Greenland Eskimos, including a tribe near Thule previously unknown to Europeans. On 25 July he discovered a new species of gull, the fork-tailed or Sabine's gull, at its breeding station off the west coast of Greenland. He carried out pendulum experiments, significant for acquiring a detailed understanding of the shape of the earth, and he also carried out magnetic observations. Once Ross tied the ships to icebergs while an observatory and tents were set up on shore for Sabine and his companions. On another occasion, the ships were lifted onto ice floes and driven into collision during a storm, which frustrated subsequent attempts to carve out safe docks in the ice field. Sabine and his companions meanwhile landed on Bushnan Island, where they found Eskimo remains. ... His principal scientific activity was in geomagnetism. In 1823 he had been the first to demonstrate the correlation of magnetic variations on a chart. In 1834 he began work on a magnetic survey of Great Britain; his old arctic companion James Clark Ross joined him in the enterprise. In 1835 he led the British Association for the Advancement of Science in urging the government to sponsor an antarctic expedition in search of the south magnetic pole, and further lobbying contributed to the appointment of J.C. Ross, discoverer of the north magnetic pole, as commander of the British antarctic expedition of 1839-1843. Sabine also became the key figure in the establishment of a chain of colonial magnetic observatories, including the Toronto observatory, from which John Henry Lefroy, on Sabine's orders, undertook his marathon magnetic survey of the Canadian Northwest

The role of instruments in the dissemination of the Chemical Revolution

The spread of the late eighteenth-century chemical revolution depended on access to appropriate apparatus. Theories depend upon practice, which depends upon instruments. Pneumatic chemistry required new apparatus for the isolation, measurement, and admixture of difFerent gases. Lavoisier's pneumatic chemistry invoived his new, refined, expensive gasometers. The development of cheaper but still fimctional gasometers by chemists and instrument makers enabled chemists outside Paris to repeat and extend Lavoisier's key experiments. Lavoisier's superb precisión balances were an important part of his arsenal. Glass apparatus made increasing demands on glass blowers. The bottle faetones that had supplied Black in Edinburgh and later Proust in Segovia were no longer adequate

The Most Select and the Most Democratic: A Century of Science in the Royal Society of Canada

This paper is a history of the Science Academy of the Royal Society of Canada, from its foundation in 1882 until the early 1990s. The RSC has always had an honorific role, but it has sought a more substantive one in science, in advising government, in scientific publication (a role that it has largely lost to the National Research Council and to other scientific societies and journals), in educating the public, in representing Canada internationally, and in undertaking scientific inquiries of public import, for example in assessing the risks associated with nuclear winter, or in the Canadian Global Change Program. Often, Fellows of the RSC have individually achieved more in science than the Society has achieved institutionally; but as this narrative shows, the dynamic between science, government, the RSC, and the Canadian public, has been important in Canadian science and in Canadian history.Cet article rappelle l’histoire de l’Académie des sciences de la Société royale du Canada, de sa fondation en 1882 jusqu’au début des années 1990. Bien que la SRC ait surtout eu une fonction honorifique, l’Académie a tout de même joué un rôle substantiel dans le développement intellectuel du pays à travers ses publications (rôle assumé ensuite par le CNR et d’autres sociétés savantes), son rôle de conseiller auprès du gouvernement, ses actions éducatives auprès du public, son action de représentation du Canada sur la scène internationale et grâce à des enquêtes scientifiques comme celles sur les risques d’un hiver nucléaire ou sur les changements à l’échelle du globe. Souvent, les membres ont, à titre individuel, contribué davantage à la science que la SRC au plan institutionnel mais, comme le montre cet article, les relations dynamiques entre la science, le gouvernement, la SRC et la population canadienne ont été importantes tant pour l’histoire canadienne que pour l’histoire des sciences au Canada