Doctoral Dissertation Research: Antarctica and the Politics of Scientific Exploration in Scandinavia and the British Empire, 1895-1952

这将是第一项研究，以图表和解释不同的方式科学探索是跨越历史和地理界限的定义。它将涉及英国、挪威、瑞典和澳大利亚的档案研究。鉴于历史上的共识，这一时期几乎每一次探险都宣称自己是“科学的”，值得注意的是，迄今为止还没有任何研究询问为什么这个术语应该如此普遍，或者为什么它明显的修辞权威应该被注意到而不被解释。这项研究将解释为什么“科学”活动被不同地描述为与体育、商业、帝国主义或民族主义相对立;而在其他时候，则采取行动使与这些类别中的一个或多个产生共鸣的活动合法化。世纪的南极探险受到公众的密切关注，吸引了大量媒体报道，并为科学和地理机构提供了提高社会形象的机会：忽视自我介绍的“科学”探索仅仅是修辞，是忽视了确保这一权威的政治重要性。罗伯茨将通过对媒体对这些探险的报道进行彻底调查，来补充这四个国家的档案研究。后者将被视为历史的证据，而不是短暂的“颜色”，以揭示科学探索的修辞建设背后的政治过程。罗伯茨以前曾在相关的澳大利亚档案中进行过研究。他精通所有相关语言。该项目建立在罗伯茨以前（2004年，2006年）关于南极探险的工作和普罗克特早期（1991年）关于二十世纪早期无价值科学的修辞性构建的工作基础上。更广泛的影响。今天，科学作为人类在南极活动的主要理由，占据了一个特殊的地位。在石油钻探和商业捕鲸重新回到国际议程的时候，了解科学是如何取得这一地位的，以及有效科学活动的定义是如何在时间和空间上发生变化的，这一点至关重要。今天，日本的“科学捕鲸”计划从一个角度来看是一种可接受的科学实践，从另一个角度来看是资源开发的前沿。虽然历史的方法，该项目的目的是有现实意义的今天的活动。认识到关于“科学”活动合法性的争论有其历史，并且它们与政治（至少在修辞层面上）交织在一起，这对有效的政策制定至关重要。这尤其适用于南极，但也适用于其他领域，如太空探索和深海海洋学。该项目将对科学家与支持和验证其工作的社区之间的关系以及科学考察作为通过科学成就展示政治权力的持久价值提出一般性见解。该项目的研究结果将在英国和斯堪的纳维亚世界的学术会议上发表，并通过针对英国，瑞典和澳大利亚更广泛公众的学术出版物和演讲。某些调查结果--特别是那些与捕鲸业和早期全球变暖研究有关的调查结果--将对正在进行的公众辩论具有特别重要的意义。

This will be the first study to chart and explain the diverse ways scientific exploration was defined across historical and geographical boundaries. It will involve archival research in Britain, Norway, Sweden, and Australia. Given the historical consensus that practically every expedition during this period proclaimed itself to be 'scientific', it is remarkable that no study to date has asked why this term should be so ubiquitous, or why its obvious rhetorical authority should be noted without being explained.Intellectual Merit. This study will explain why 'scientific' activity was variously characterized as antithetical to sport, commerce, imperialism, or nationalism; while at other times acting to legitimize activities that resonated with one or more of those categories. Antarctic exploration in the twentieth century took place under intense public scrutiny, attracting significant media coverage and affording an opportunity for scientific and geographical institutions to raise their social profile: to disregard the self-presentation of 'scientific' exploration as mere rhetoric is to ignore the political importance of securing that authority. Roberts will complement archival research in all four nations with a thorough survey of media coverage of these expeditions. The latter will be treated as historical evidence rather than ephemeral 'color', to reveal the political processes behind the rhetorical construction of scientific exploration. Roberts has conducted previous research in the relevant Australian archives. He is competent in all relevant languages. The project builds on Roberts's previous (2004, 2006) work on Antarctic exploration and Proctor's earlier (1991) work on the rhetorical construction of value-free science in the early twentieth century. Broader Impacts. Science occupies a privileged position today as the dominant justification for human activity in the Antarctic. At a time when oil drilling and commercial whaling are returning to the international agenda, it is critical to understand how science achieved this status, and how the definitions of valid scientific activity have shifted through time and across space. Today, the Japanese 'scientific whaling' program constitutes an acceptable scientific practice from one perspective and a front for resource exploitation from others. Though historical in approach, the project is designed to have relevance for present-day activities. Recognizing that debates over the legitimacy of 'scientific' activities have a history, and that they are intertwined with politics (at least at the rhetorical level), is crucial to effective policy-making. This extends applies particularly to the Antarctic, but also to other arenas such as space exploration and deep-sea oceanography. The project will produce general insights on the relationship between scientists and the communities that lend support and validation to their work and the enduring value of scientific expeditions as emblems of political power through scientific achievement. Findings from the project will be presented in academic conferences in both the British and Scandinavian world, as well as through scholarly publications and presentations aimed at a wider public audience in Britain, Sweden, and Australia. Certain findings - especially those relate to the whaling industry and early global warming research - will have particular significance for ongoing public debates.