“The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world and not in a closet.” This advice was given by the Earl of Chesterfield to his son in 1746 and, although it was not intended as such, it could well have inspired all those geophysicists who have ever left their laboratories to make observations in the field, or who have compared the results of their own experiments with those of their colleagues in other parts of the world.

Sept. 18th [1824]. The young bay ice was found this morning to have formed over Barrows Straits, in which we were firmly fixed until next morning, when a smart breeze from the north broke it all up again and let us free to work up to the head of the bay; passing several whales and sea urchins en route. The young bay ice which had formed in sheltered places had, by the strong wind, been converted into (what is known here as) Pan-cake ice. The ships bored their way through with difficulty.