The Gateway to the Polynia: A Voyage to Spitzbergen (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Gateway to the Polynia: A Voyage to Spitzbergen

From the scientific point of view, it is a matter which requires both government and private enterprise. Many people, however, ask what is the use of such explorations? Who cares, say they, for a lot of barren ice-clad lands or frozen seas? And why should you encourage men to risk their lives for such objects as these? These questions chiefly emanatefrom those who do not see the advantage of prosecuting anything which does not promise a handsome pecuniary profit; who over-estimate the risks incidental to Arctic ad venture, and who cannot appreciate successes which are simply scientific. Arctic voyages have yielded good fruit in the past, and there is every prospect of greater gains accruing to science from the explorations of the future. The present phase of Arctic Explora tion, the characteristic feature of which is the attempt to reach the Pole, combined more or less with a spirit of scientific inquiry, promises to be a more glorious one than either of the two preceding phases and since the English Navy has taken a leading share in these, it is to be hoped it will take a foremost one in the pre sent phase.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.