FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK: Wages of sin?

摘要

Sir John Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty (1804-1845), found himself embarrassed by a Royal Navy that had nothing much to do after the defeat of Napoleon. Hearing tell of an ice-free arctic (in 1817) from the whaler William Scoresby was music to his ears. Alas, Scoresby had found the waters north of Canada only briefly ice-free thanks to Tambora's 1815 eruption. Normal service soon resumed, and all Barrow's expeditions failed.