50 Years ago

More science means more information, in the form of books, journals and conferences. No scientist needs to be reminded of this. It was estimated recently that to keep up with all the current work a physiologist would have to read nearly four hundred papers a day; Sir George Thomson has even gone so far as to suggest that it is the impossibility of absorbing the necessary information that will ultimately halt scientific progress.

From Nature 19 September 1959.

100 Years ago

The position and prospects of polar exploration have been given great attention in the daily Press during the last few days. No precise information as to Dr. Cook's journey to the North Pole has yet been published, but the general narrative of Commander Peary's expedition leaves little room for doubt that Commander Peary reached the neighbourhood of the pole, and probably the pole itself, though an element of uncertainty must exist until his observations for latitude are examined critically ... Announcement has also just been made that a British Antarctic expedition will start next August under Captain R. F. Scott, who commanded the National Antarctic Expedition of 1900-4, with the object of reaching the South Pole. As all the world knows, Mr Shackleton's record of this year has given Great Britain the premier position in Antarctic exploration, and an earnest desire is felt by British explorers to place to the credit of this country the feat of first reaching the South Pole ... The full narrative of Commander Peary's expedition to the North Pole appeared in the Times of September 11 and 13 ... The expedition left Etah, Greenland, on August 18, 1908, in the Roosevelt, having on board 22 Eskimo men, 17 women, 236 dogs, and about 40 walrus.

From Nature 16 September 1909.