Abstract
THE centenary of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition of the United States Navy, 1838-1842, was marked by a symposium on American polar exploration organized by the American Philosophical Society in 1 February of last year. The papers read on that occasion are now published (Proc. American Phil Soc, 82, No. 5) and include some valuable contributions to polar geography. The expedition is best remembered for its antarctic landfalls, which have since been the subject of much controversy but mainly have boen confirmed. The expedition had, however, a practical bias, actuated by the considerable American whaling industry in the Pacific at that time, and the scientific side was not too strong though valuable results were obtained not only in the antarctic but also in many surveys in Pacific islands and numerous biological collections. The greater part of the results were published by the authority of Congrefes, but the edition was small and many of the volumes are rare. In the present publication the history of the expedition and the story of the struggle to get the reports published are fully traced and there are valuable bibliographical records.
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The Wilkes Centenary. Nature 147, 476 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147476b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147476b0