Visualising the Aurora: Embodied and Instrumental Sensing throughout the International Polar and Geophysical Years (1880-1960) ...
This thesis traces the various ways in which the aurora was imaged, visualised and understood during the International Polar and Geophysical Years of 1882-1883, 1932-1933 and 1957-1958. I explore the depiction of the phenomenon, from hand-drawings to radio echoes, while paying heed to what was occlu...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
2022
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.102213 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/358745 |
| Summary: | This thesis traces the various ways in which the aurora was imaged, visualised and understood during the International Polar and Geophysical Years of 1882-1883, 1932-1933 and 1957-1958. I explore the depiction of the phenomenon, from hand-drawings to radio echoes, while paying heed to what was occluded from portrayals, the imaginative and aesthetic considerations involved in rendering the aurora and the epistemological problems of capturing a transient, unpredictable and intangible atmospheric object. Photography, spectroscopy, radio imaging and the introduction of the all-sky perspective were integral technological developments, influencing the ways in which the aurora was presented and viewed. Nevertheless, experiential knowledge of the phenomenon, gained through watching the affective light displays and occasionally listening for its potentially illusive sounds, remained crucial to each of the endeavours. With a focus on the practices of Polar research, I trace the shifting balance between reliance on ... |
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