Articles | Volume 13, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-13-171-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-13-171-2022
Article
 | 
22 Sep 2022
Article |  | 22 Sep 2022

HMS Challenger and SMS Gazelle – their 19th century voyages compared

W. John Gould

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Cited articles

A.M.F.: Obituary: Captain Thomas Henry Tizard, C.B., F.R.S., R.N., Geogr. J., 63, 460–462, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1781248 (last access: 6 June 2022), 1924. 
Anonymous: The Great Circumnavigating Exploring Expedition, Nature, 6, 529–530, https://doi.org/10.1038/006529a0, 1872. 
Anonymous: The Scientific Orders of the “Challenger”, Nature, 7, 191–193, https://doi.org/10.1038/007191a0, 1873. 
Anonymous: Scientific Worthies, Nature, 14, 85–87, 1876. 
Agassiz, G. R.: Sir John Murray, P. Am. Acad. Arts Sci., 52, 853–859, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20025726?seq=1 (last access: 6 June 2022), 1917. 
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Short summary
The paper compares the historical context, organization, personnel, conduct, and scientific innovation of the voyages of HMS Challenger (1872–6) and SMS Gazelle (1874–6). Though the expeditions were in many regards similar, the Challenger expedition became famous and is regarded as marking the start of global marine science, while the Gazelle voyage remains almost unknown. Why? A surprising factor may be what we now know as "health and safety" issues.