ARCTIC EXPLORATION AND ITS OBJECT. 7g 



the importance of geographical exploration, it is the new material 

 added to our stock of knowledge which enables us to make new 

 comparisons and to reach a more thorough understanding of the 

 world. If we intend to prove the necessity of new polar explorations, 

 we do not need to dwell upon the many observations which are con- 

 nected with Arctic research. If we should enter more closely into the 

 meteorological and hydrographical or the magnetical problems which 

 may be understood better by researches in regions near the pole ; if 

 we should try to demonstrate the immense importance of those ques- 

 tions for the meteorology of our own regions, and for the hydrography 

 of the navigable ocean, or for the closer investigation of terrestrial 

 magnetism which is necessary for the purposes of navigation, we 

 should leave the stand-point we try to maintain here the principle 

 that we are not allowed to judge the value of scientific work by its 

 immediate importance for science and life, but by its value for science 

 itself. 



The effort has often been made to prove the necessity of continued 

 polar exploration after the failure of so many attempts and the loss 

 of so many brave lives, but the reasons brought forth were always 

 those referring to the probable utility of new undertakings. It is not 

 the proper way to defend a scientific work to point out the direct 

 advantages which may be gained by it. Science itself has the right 

 to ask any devotion of man for its purposes. A dangerous enterprise 

 made in behalf of science does not need any proof of its usefulness, 

 if it is possible to show that the results will indeed be a gain to the 

 stock of our knowledge. 



If we agree that cosmography be equal in value to physics, or 

 even if we only understand that progress in physics can not be made 

 except by exploring the phenomena in the most minute and detailed 

 way, we have to concede that new explorations in the Arctic regions 

 are of value for science, and that, therefore, they are undoubtedly 

 necessary and must be demanded. 



At the same time let us ask, What is the object of polar expeditions ? 

 It is the thorough exploration of the Arctic region and of all its phe- 

 nomena, a great task which will give scientists work for years to come. 

 The problems will not be solved by pushing north and gaining the 

 pole. There are many more objects of study left besides, and it is not 

 necessary at all to work with all our might for the achievement of this 

 single aim. The desires of humanity and the wants of science both 

 direct us the same way. The phenomena of the highest latitudes are 

 not of a kind which requires the promptest attention. Though the 

 reaching of the pole may be desirable, it is not so urgent as to demand 

 the sacrifice of noble lives in hazardous and adventurous enterprises 

 which might be accomplished with relative safety at a later time. If 

 the problems awaiting their solution in the Arctic were as pressing as 

 those of ethnography, any attempt to reach the pole would be justi- 



