Flier for talks by Dr Nansen
RSGS Dr Nansen will address the Society on his recent Polar expedition in Edinburgh 12th February, Glasgow 15th February, Dundee 17th February and Aberdeen 18th February 1897.
Dr Nansen left Norway in July 1893 with twelve companions on board the Fram which was especially built at the expense of the Norwegian Government. In his farewell speech in November 1892 he said
'We do not set forth to seek for the mathematical spot which forms the northern end of the earth's axis; to reach this particular spot is not, in itself, a matter of great moment. What we want to do is to investigate the great unknown regions which surround the Pole or pass some distance from it'
During this expedition Nansen discovered the existence of a deep polar basin several thousand fathoms deep and completely devoid of islands, which was unexpected as it had previously been believed that the Polar Sea was relatively shallow and contained many tracts of land. Nansen also brought back scientific data which proved valuable in the study of oceanography, arctic meteorology, zoology and the aurora borealis.
