Dissertation Research: Arctic Explorers and the American Scientific Community,1850-1909

这篇论文的研究项目将考察19世纪末美国关于北极的辩论。特别是，它将追溯三个嵌套的辩论：北极地理理论，探险者作为科学实践者的合法性，以及北极科学和探索的价值。总而言之，这些辩论展示了十九世纪末科学文化和大众文化之间密切而复杂的互动，并建议对我们目前对美国科学“崛起”的分析进行修订。具体而言，关于北极的辩论表明，1)北极探险者在“介于”科学文化和大众文化之间开展工作，调解有关北极的知识和权威的流动；2)尽管19世纪末科学界的文化权威日益增强，但公众对科学及其实践者的看法往往与科学精英的观点不同。虽然大多数对北极科学的分析都集中在探险者在北极的活动上，但本论文研究跟踪了探险者在美国的机构和演讲厅，在那里他们在精英科学界和公众观众中为他们的探险建立了支持。在追踪北极探险者在美国文化中不断变化的科学和社会地位时，这项研究将揭示19世纪后半叶精英和“受欢迎的科学家”之间围绕科学权威的更广泛斗争。

This dissertation research project will examine American debates about the Arctic in the late nineteenth century. In particular, it will trace three nested debates concerning: theories of Arctic geography, the legitimacy of explorers as scientific practitioners, and the value of Arctic science and exploration. Taken together, these debates demonstrate the close and complex interactions of scientific and popular culture in the late nineteenth century, and suggest revisions to our current analysis of the "rise" of American science. Specifically, debates over the Arctic reveal that 1) Arctic explorers operated from a position "between" scientific and popular cultures, mediating the flow of knowledge and authority about the Arctic, and that 2) despite the growing cultural authority of the scientific community in the late nineteenth century, public views about science and its practitioners frequently diverged from the views of scientific elites. While most analyses of Arctic science have focused on the activities of explorers in the Arctic, this dissertation research follows explorers through the institutions and lecture halls of America, where they built support for their expeditions among the elite scientific community as well as public audiences. In tracing the shifting scientific and social positions of Arctic explorers in American culture, the research will reveal a broader struggle over scientific authority between elites and "popular scientists" in the last half of the nineteenth century.