William Scoresby

William Scoresby (* October 5, 1789 near Whitby, Yorkshire, † March 21 1857 in Torquay ) was a British navigator and explorer.

Life and work

Scoresby was an English whaler, the approximately 20 trips in northern waters made ​​1803-1822. He reached in 1806 with the whaling ship resolution between Greenland and Spitsbergen, the then highest latitude (81 ° 30 ' N). In the years 1817 and 1818, he explored Svalbard and landed first in 1822 on the east coast of Greenland, which he partially mapped ( Scoresby ). Through his investigations Scoresby realized that ice formed on the open sea and that sea ice to Novaya Zemlya expands continuously from Spitsbergen. From 1839 to 1852 Scoresby published his research on the earth's magnetism.

According to his research trips Scoresby studied theology at Cambridge.

Honors

1935 was named after him by the IAU, the moon crater Scoresby.

• Naturalist
• Seafarer
• Member of the Royal Society
• Briton
• English
• Born in 1789
• Died in 1857
• Man