32 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JX
Between the December 1872 and May 1876 the Challenger Expedition circumnavigated the globe and laid the foundations for modern oceanography. It had been organised by the Royal Society of London at the suggestion of Charles Wyville Thomson, Edinburgh University’s professor of natural history, and its offices were here at 32 Queen Street. The expedition took soundings, samples of sea water and collected specimens of marine life while traversing 68,890 nautical miles across the oceans of the world. The report of the expedition, which was published between 1885 and 1895, came to 50 fat volumes.
No public access.
The HMS Challenger.
Charles Wyville Thompson (1830–82).
Find out more
- Challenger Society for Marine Science: The History of the Challenger Expedition
- University of Edinburgh, People: Sir Charles Wyville Thomson