Challenger expedition
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Image:Challenger.jpg The Challenger Expedition was a scientific expedition that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography.
Prompted by the Scot Charles Wyville Thomson, of the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Society of London obtained the use of a ship, HMS Challenger, from the Royal Navy and, between 1870 and 1872, modified it for scientific work, equipping it with separate laboratories for natural history and chemistry.
The ship, commanded by Captain George Nares, sailed from Portsmouth, England, on December 21, 1872. Under the scientific supervision of Thomson himself it travelled nearly 70,000 miles surveying and exploring. The result was the Report Of The Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76, which, among many other discoveries, catalogued 4,000 previously unknown species of animal. John Murray, who supervised the publication, described the report as "the greatest advance in the knowledge of our planet since the celebrated discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries".
The Space Shuttle Challenger was named after HMS Challenger[1].
External links
References
- R. M. Corfield. The Silent Landscape: the Scientific Voyage of HMS Challenger. Joseph Henry Press, 2003. ISBN 0309089042
- Report Of The Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76de:Challenger-Expedition