Eismitte in the Scientific Imagination: Knowledge and Politics at the Center of Greenland by Janet Martin-Nielsen

Abstract

Reviewed by: Eismitte in the Scientific Imagination: Knowledge and Politics at the Center of Greenland by Janet Martin-Nielsen Pey-Yi Chu Eismitte in the Scientific Imagination: Knowledge and Politics at the Center of Greenland. By Janet Martin-Nielsen. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 214pp. $100 (cloth). Scientific knowledge about the earth expanded dramatically in the twentieth century. Advances in geophysics (the study of the earth’s physical properties) and geodesy (the science of measuring the earth’s shape) laid foundations for concepts that people take for granted today, including ideas about global warming and everyday uses of navigation technologies, such as global positioning systems. Greenland, a seemingly peripheral place, was central to these developments, [End Page 410] argues Janet Martin-Nielsen. At the center of Greenland itself was Eismitte, German for “middle ice,” an abstract location that became a focal point for meteorological and seismological research by European and American scientists in the middle decades of the twentieth century. In Eismitte in the Scientific Imagination, Martin-Nielsen traces the flow and ebb of Eismitte as a “holy grail of polar exploration” (p. 13). She demonstrates that the interior of Greenland’s ice sheet reflected evolving scientific and geopolitical priorities, from climate history to military operations during the Cold War. While doing so, she connects her narrative to the disciplinary history of glaciology, the history of technology, the cultural history of exploration, and diplomatic history. One of Martin-Nielsen’s contributions is to show how a mathematical abstraction—the “geometric center” (p. 1) of Greenland, or 71°8′ N, 40°3′ W—acquired cultural significance through the ambitions of scientists and statesmen. In reality, Eismitte was not so much a fixed point as a series of outposts marked by the artifacts of successive expeditions, from caves and tunnels dug within the snow to observation towers, radar antennas, and prefabricated huts assembled on the surface. It also figured in the imagination as new generations were drawn to Eismitte by the legacy of heroic exploration. As Martin-Nielsen argues, “Eismitte had the aura of a scientifically sacred place” (p. 92). Both the physical and the symbolic construction of Eismitte lie at the heart of Martin-Nielsen’s book, recalling the place-based nature of science described in David N. Livingstone’s Putting Science in Its Place: Geographies of Scientific Knowledge (Chicago, 2003). In order to tell the story of Eismitte, Martin-Nielsen takes readers through major expeditions to Greenland’s interior: German explorer Alfred Wegener’s expedition of 1930–1931; the French Polar Expedition (EPF) of 1948–1953, organized by anthropologist Paul-Emile Victor; Project Jello, carried out by members of the United States’ Army Corps of Engineers in 1955; and the International Glaciological Expedition to Greenland (EGIG), a joint venture of five European states from 1956 to 1960. Although the book as a whole proceeds chronologically, the chapters do not. Focusing on a particular expedition, each chapter is divided into sections that address Martin-Nielsen’s core themes: funding, logistics, knowledge production, and international politics. The advantage of this structure is that it enables the reader easily to locate specific topics of interest and target different points in Eismitte’s history. At the same time, it allows for a less cohesive development of the book’s overarching arguments. Although emerging piecemeal, several key arguments become fleshed out over the course of Martin-Nielsen’s narrative. One concerns the [End Page 411] meaning of modernity in the context of exploration. When did exploration shift from traditional approaches, exemplified by the image of a heroic individual embarking on a quest for discovery, to a “modern” approach, characterized by teams of scientists utilizing advanced technology? Martin-Nielsen steps into this debate in two ways. First, she notes that modernity is as much a rhetorical concept as a lived reality. Historical actors like Alfred Wegener and Paul-Emile Victor consciously trumpeted the novelty of their methods to patrons in order to create the impression of operating on the cutting edge. Second, Martin-Nielsen delves into the nitty-gritty details of logistics, describing how expeditions traveled to Eismitte and transported sustenance and specialized equipment. Real engineering advances changed not only exploration but also Eismitte itself, which...