Open AccessStrange interlude at Virgohamna, Danskøya, Svalbard, 1906: the merkelig mann , the engineer and the spy
Author(s) -
Capelotti P. J.,
Van Dyk Herman,
Cailliez JeanClaude
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
polar research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.508
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1751-8369
pISSN - 0800-0395
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-8369.2007.00008.x
Subject(s) - north pole , event (particle physics) , state (computer science) , art history , history , meteorology , geography , physical geography , computer science , physics , astrophysics , algorithm
Just over a century ago, the American journalist Walter Wellman first tried to reach the North Pole by airship. Despite the hoopla that surrounded the expedition, it was a fiasco and the attempt became a quirky and somewhat obscure episode in the history of polar exploration. In this issue of Polar Research, we present two complementary contributions about this event. The first paper, below, is a collaboration between Penn State University Abington College archaeologist P. J. Capelotti, engineer and airship historian Herman Van Dyk and Swiss aeronautical historian Jean‐Claude Cailliez. It presents new data on the initial operations of Wellman’s attempt to reach the pole in 1906. —The editor