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10 Scientific Expeditions That Were Doomed From the Start

8 points by nickcobb 15y ago

arethuza 15y ago
Fergus Fleming has written an excellent book on some of the more daring/crazy British expeditions of the 19th century: "Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy" http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-Outright/dp/0802137946/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317996925&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-Outrig... To my amazement after reading this book I discovered that one of the few bodies recovered from the Franklin expedition is buried a couple of hundred meters from my home in Edinburgh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition http://hidden-tracks-book.blogspot.com/2010/05/lt-irving-memorial.html http://hidden-tracks-book.blogspot.com/2010/05/lt-irving-mem...
infinity 15y ago
The story of the expedition of Burke and Wills is also part of the History of the camels in Australia - a story which is really something special. In the year 1860 the ship Chinsurah arrived from Karachi in India at Melbourne. It brought 24 dromedaries (one-humped Arabian camels) to Australia and also some camel herders, called "Afghans". The camels were supposed to be part of the expedition of Burke and Wills, which was financially supported by the Royal Society of Victoria and aimed at crossing the australian continent from south to north. Two years earlier the Victorian Exploration Committee employed Mr. George James Landells to buy camels for £3000 and recruit also some camel herders. Six further camels were bought by the Victorian Exploration Committee, imported to Australia on the ship Malta by Mr. White & Co. On Mr. Landells explicit wishes, 60 gallons of rum were added to the supplies of the expedition - not for himself, but for the camels! Mr. Landells had convinced the Committee, that rum would prevent scurvy and improve the survival of the camels in the desert. On the 20th of August 1860 the expedition started with much public attention from Melbourne with 26 camels, four camels stayed at home, because they were ill.
SkyMarshal 15y ago
Drop the '10' in the title. Makes the submission sound like supermarket tabloid linkbait. As common and effective on peoples' ape subroutines as it is, it's not a writing style one should strive to emulate. http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html If the original title begins with a number or number + gratuitous adjective, we'd appreciate it if you'd crop it. E.g. translate "10 Ways To Do X" to "How To Do X," and "14 Amazing Ys" to "Ys." Exception: when the number is meaningful, e.g. "The 5 Platonic Solids."

8 points by nickcobb 15y ago

Fergus Fleming has written an excellent book on some of the more daring/crazy British expeditions of the 19th century: "Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy" http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-Outright/dp/0802137946/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317996925&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-Outrig... To my amazement after reading this book I discovered that one of the few bodies recovered from the Franklin expedition is buried a couple of hundred meters from my home in Edinburgh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition http://hidden-tracks-book.blogspot.com/2010/05/lt-irving-memorial.html http://hidden-tracks-book.blogspot.com/2010/05/lt-irving-mem...

infinity 15y ago

The story of the expedition of Burke and Wills is also part of the History of the camels in Australia - a story which is really something special. In the year 1860 the ship Chinsurah arrived from Karachi in India at Melbourne. It brought 24 dromedaries (one-humped Arabian camels) to Australia and also some camel herders, called "Afghans". The camels were supposed to be part of the expedition of Burke and Wills, which was financially supported by the Royal Society of Victoria and aimed at crossing the australian continent from south to north. Two years earlier the Victorian Exploration Committee employed Mr. George James Landells to buy camels for £3000 and recruit also some camel herders. Six further camels were bought by the Victorian Exploration Committee, imported to Australia on the ship Malta by Mr. White & Co. On Mr. Landells explicit wishes, 60 gallons of rum were added to the supplies of the expedition - not for himself, but for the camels! Mr. Landells had convinced the Committee, that rum would prevent scurvy and improve the survival of the camels in the desert. On the 20th of August 1860 the expedition started with much public attention from Melbourne with 26 camels, four camels stayed at home, because they were ill.

SkyMarshal 15y ago

Drop the '10' in the title. Makes the submission sound like supermarket tabloid linkbait. As common and effective on peoples' ape subroutines as it is, it's not a writing style one should strive to emulate. http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html If the original title begins with a number or number + gratuitous adjective, we'd appreciate it if you'd crop it. E.g. translate "10 Ways To Do X" to "How To Do X," and "14 Amazing Ys" to "Ys." Exception: when the number is meaningful, e.g. "The 5 Platonic Solids."