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.
