Making Sense of the Aurora: A Research Project
The article provides an introduction to a on-going research project based at University of Tromsø that seeks to analyze the history of efforts to make sense of the aurora borealis from the early 1700s through to the Cold War. Following brilliant displays of the northern lights in the early eighteent...
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Language: | Norwegian |
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2012
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Online Access: | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2301 https://doi.org/10.7557/13.2301 |
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/2301 2023-05-15T15:06:57+02:00 Making Sense of the Aurora: A Research Project Friedman, Robert Marc 2012-05-01 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2301 https://doi.org/10.7557/13.2301 nor nor Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2301/2132 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2301 doi:10.7557/13.2301 Copyright (c) 2012 Robert Marc Friedman http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Nordlit; No 29 (2012): Narrating the High North I; 59-68 Nordlit; Nr 29 (2012): Narrating the High North I; 59-68 1503-2086 0809-1668 Aurora borealis science in the far north polar research history of science info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed article Fagfellevurdert artikkel 2012 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/13.2301 2021-08-16T15:44:44Z The article provides an introduction to a on-going research project based at University of Tromsø that seeks to analyze the history of efforts to make sense of the aurora borealis from the early 1700s through to the Cold War. Following brilliant displays of the northern lights in the early eighteenth century, natural philosophers strove to explain this phenomenon that evoked widespread fear and superstition. It was not until well into the twentieth century that consensual explanation emerged for this, one of the great enigmas in the history of science. From the start, the quest to explain the aurora borealis became enmeshed with patriotic science and nationalist sentiments. The history of efforts to understand the nature and cause of the aurora poses a number of thematic problems. Being a fleeting and at times rapidly changing phenomenon, only occasionally seen south of far-northern latitudes, the aurora needed to be constituted as an object able to be brought into the domain of rational science. Observational accounts of the aurora came most often from by personsliving or travelling in the far north or in the Arctic, but these persons were generallynot trained scientists: Whose witnessing counted and how was authority negotiated among professional scientists and amateurs? Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic University of Tromsø University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Arctic Tromsø Nordlit 16 1 59 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
Norwegian |
topic |
Aurora borealis science in the far north polar research history of science |
spellingShingle |
Aurora borealis science in the far north polar research history of science Friedman, Robert Marc Making Sense of the Aurora: A Research Project |
topic_facet |
Aurora borealis science in the far north polar research history of science |
description |
The article provides an introduction to a on-going research project based at University of Tromsø that seeks to analyze the history of efforts to make sense of the aurora borealis from the early 1700s through to the Cold War. Following brilliant displays of the northern lights in the early eighteenth century, natural philosophers strove to explain this phenomenon that evoked widespread fear and superstition. It was not until well into the twentieth century that consensual explanation emerged for this, one of the great enigmas in the history of science. From the start, the quest to explain the aurora borealis became enmeshed with patriotic science and nationalist sentiments. The history of efforts to understand the nature and cause of the aurora poses a number of thematic problems. Being a fleeting and at times rapidly changing phenomenon, only occasionally seen south of far-northern latitudes, the aurora needed to be constituted as an object able to be brought into the domain of rational science. Observational accounts of the aurora came most often from by personsliving or travelling in the far north or in the Arctic, but these persons were generallynot trained scientists: Whose witnessing counted and how was authority negotiated among professional scientists and amateurs? |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Friedman, Robert Marc |
author_facet |
Friedman, Robert Marc |
author_sort |
Friedman, Robert Marc |
title |
Making Sense of the Aurora: A Research Project |
title_short |
Making Sense of the Aurora: A Research Project |
title_full |
Making Sense of the Aurora: A Research Project |
title_fullStr |
Making Sense of the Aurora: A Research Project |
title_full_unstemmed |
Making Sense of the Aurora: A Research Project |
title_sort |
making sense of the aurora: a research project |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2301 https://doi.org/10.7557/13.2301 |
geographic |
Arctic Tromsø |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Tromsø |
genre |
Arctic University of Tromsø |
genre_facet |
Arctic University of Tromsø |
op_source |
Nordlit; No 29 (2012): Narrating the High North I; 59-68 Nordlit; Nr 29 (2012): Narrating the High North I; 59-68 1503-2086 0809-1668 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2301/2132 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/2301 doi:10.7557/13.2301 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2012 Robert Marc Friedman http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/13.2301 |
container_title |
Nordlit |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
59 |
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1766338527916720128 |