Dennis Rawlins

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Dennis Rawlins
Born1937 (age 86–87)
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Occupation(s)Astronomer, historian

Dennis Rawlins (born 1937) is an American astronomer and historian who has acquired the reputation of skeptic primarily with respect to historical claims connected to astronomical considerations. He is known to the public mostly from media coverage of his investigations into two early twentieth-century North Pole expeditions. [1] In his first book, Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction? (1973), Rawlins argued that Robert Peary never made it to the North Pole in 1909. His second book (1993) is an edition of Tycho Brahe's 1598 catalogue of 1004 stars [2] [3] which detected ten star places that were fabricated,[ clarification needed ] partially or entirely. In 1976, as the only astronomer on the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, he looked into the purported Mars effect. [4] [5] In 1996 he made headlines [6] when page one of the New York Times covered his report to Ohio State University which concluded that in 1926 Richard E. Byrd's airplane flight towards the North Pole turned back 150 miles from the pole. [7] Rawlins's third book, his detailed report on Byrd's trip and on the competence of lingering defenses of it, was co-published [8] simultaneously in 2000 by DIO volume 10, 2000 and by the polar research center at the University of Cambridge. [9] Because explorer [10] Frederick Cook's story of reaching the North Pole in 1908 is generally rejected, the elimination of Peary [11] [12] and Byrd leaves fourth North Pole claimant Roald Amundsen as first there in 1926 in the airship Norge (Norwegian for Norway). Having attained the South Pole in 1911, Amundsen thus became the first to reach each geographical pole of the earth, [13] as proposed in Rawlins's 1973 book.

Contents

Selected works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Pole</span> Northern point where the Earths axis of rotation intersects its surface

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole, Terrestrial North Pole or 90th Parallel North, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Magnetic North Pole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roald Amundsen</span> Norwegian polar explorer (1872–1928)

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Peary</span> American Arctic explorer (1856–1920)

Robert Edwin Peary Sr. was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being the discoverer of the geographic North Pole in April 1909, having led the first expedition to have claimed this achievement, although it is now considered unlikely that he actually reached the Pole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard E. Byrd</span> American naval officer, explorer (1888–1957)

Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr., an American naval officer, was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, and a segment of the Antarctic Plateau. He is also known for discovering Mount Sidley, the largest dormant volcano in Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Henson</span> American explorer (1866–1955)

Matthew Alexander Henson was an African American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together. He is best known for his participation in the 1908–1909 expedition that claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole on April 6, 1909. Henson said he was the first of their party to reach the North Pole.

Russell D. Owen was an American journalist employed by The New York Times. He covered Arctic and Antarctic exploration both as a reporter and in books. Owen Peak, originally named "Mount Russell Owen," was named in his honor after having traveled as a Times correspondent with the first Byrd Antarctic Expedition (1928-30).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umberto Nobile</span> Italian explorer and engineer

Umberto Nobile was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Ellsworth</span> Early 20th-century American explorer of Antarctica

Lincoln Ellsworth was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Cook</span> American explorer (1865–1940)

Frederick Albert Cook was an American explorer, physician and ethnographer, who is most known for allegedly being the first to reach the North Pole on April 21, 1908. A competing claim was made a year later by Robert Peary, though both men's accounts have since been fiercely disputed; in December 1909, after reviewing Cook's limited records, a commission of the University of Copenhagen ruled his claim unproven. Nonetheless, in 1911, Cook published a memoir of the expedition in which he maintained the veracity of his assertions. In addition, he also claimed to have been the first person to reach the summit of Denali, the highest mountain in North America, a claim which has since been similarly discredited. Though he may not have achieved either Denali or the North Pole, his was the first and only expedition where a United States national discovered an Arctic island, Meighen Island.

<i>Norge</i> (airship) Italian polar-expedition airship

The Norge was a semi-rigid Italian-built airship that carried out the first verified trip of any kind to the North Pole, an overflight on 12 May 1926. It was also the first aircraft to fly over the polar ice cap between Europe and America. The expedition was the brainchild of polar explorer and expedition leader Roald Amundsen, the airship's designer and pilot Umberto Nobile and the wealthy American adventurer and explorer Lincoln Ellsworth who, along with the Norwegian Aviation Society, financed the trip, which was known as the Amundsen-Ellsworth 1926 Transpolar Flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Wisting</span> Norwegian Naval officer and polar explorer (1861–1936)

Oscar Adolf Wisting was a Norwegian Naval officer and polar explorer. Together with Roald Amundsen he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polheim</span> Antarctic Camp

Polheim was Roald Amundsen's name for his camp at the South Pole. He arrived there on 14 December 1911, along with four other members of his expedition: Helmer Hanssen, Olav Bjaaland, Oscar Wisting, and Sverre Hassel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen</span> Norwegian aviation pioneer, military officer, polar explorer and businessman

Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen was a Norwegian aviation pioneer, military officer, polar explorer and businessman. Among his achievements, he is generally regarded a founder of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wally Herbert</span> British polar explorer

Sir Walter William Herbert was a British polar explorer, writer and artist. In 1969 he became the first man fully recognized for walking to the North Pole, on the 60th anniversary of Robert Peary's disputed expedition. He was described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as "the greatest polar explorer of our time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amundsen's South Pole expedition</span> 1911 expedition to the South Pole

The first ever expedition to reach the Geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four other crew members made it to the geographical south pole on 14 December 1911, which would prove to be five weeks ahead of the competitive British party led by Robert Falcon Scott as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and about a year later heard that Scott and his four companions had perished on their return journey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farthest North</span> Most northerly latitude reached by explorers before the conquest of the North Pole

Farthest North describes the most northerly latitude reached by explorers, before the first successful expedition to the North Pole rendered the expression obsolete. The Arctic polar regions are much more accessible than those of the Antarctic, as continental land masses extend to high latitudes and sea voyages to the regions are relatively short.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar exploration</span> Scientific exploration or research of arctic or antarctic regions

Polar exploration is the process of exploration of the polar regions of Earth – the Arctic region and Antarctica – particularly with the goal of reaching the North Pole and South Pole, respectively. Historically, this was accomplished by explorers making often arduous travels on foot or by sled in these regions, known as a polar expedition. More recently, exploration has been accomplished with technology, particularly with satellite imagery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Explorers Club</span> International multidisciplinary professional society

The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for explorers and scientists worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eivind Astrup</span> Norwegian explorer and writer (1871–1895)

Eivind Astrup was a Norwegian explorer and writer. Astrup participated in Robert Peary's expedition to Greenland in 1891–92 and mapped northern Greenland. In the follow-up Greenland expedition by Peary during 1893–94 he explored and mapped Melville Bay on the north-west coast of Greenland. Among his works is Blandt Nordpolens Naboer from 1895. He was awarded the Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1892.

References

  1. ↑ John Tierney (September 8, 2009). "Who Was First at the North Pole?". New York Times, Science. The September 7, 2009 online version of the New York Times article created a link to DIO.
  2. ↑ Elly Decker (1998). "Tycho's Star Catalogue: The First Critical Edition. DIO (Special Triple Issue) 3 (1993). Review". Annals of Science. 53 (4): 423. doi:10.1080/00033799608560825.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ O'Brien, Ellen (2 June 1996). "Prober's Claim To Fame Is Refuting Adm. Byrd's: Dennis Rawlins Makes A Case The North Pole Was Missed". Philadelphia Media Network . Archived from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Cherfas, Jeremy (29 October 1981). "Paranormal-watchers fall out over the Mars effect". New Scientist : 294.
  5. ↑ Kurtz, Paul. Skepticism and Humanism: The New Paradigm. Transaction. pp. 89–90. ISBN   9781412834117.
  6. ↑ John Noble Wilford (May 9, 1996). "Did Byrd Reach Pole? His Diary Hints 'No'". New York Times: 1.; May 9, 1996 Evening News, CBS, ABC, NBC.
  7. ↑ Timberg, Craig (15 May 1996). "Polar hero Byrd on thin ice? Doubter: Dennis Rawlins' report that explorer Richard Byrd did not fly over the North Pole has put the Baltimore scholar in the middle of controversy". The Baltimore Sun . Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  8. ↑ The Cambridge version ends with "Editor's note: As is common among scholarly journals, it is a policy of Polar Record to publish only papers not submitted nor being considered for publication elsewhere. However, the preceding paper is considered to be of such significance to the polar community that it has been published here despite an expanded version being published this same month in DIO".
  9. ↑ "Byrd's heroic 1926 North Pole failure" Scott Polar Research Institute, Polar Record volume 36, issue 196, pages 25–50, January 2000.
  10. ↑ John Tierney (November 26, 1998). "Author Says Photo Confirms Mt. McKinley Hoax in 1908". New York Times: 1. Article explicitly based upon DIO volume 7's first publication of the long secreted uncropped version of Cook's alleged Mt. McKinley summit photograph.
  11. ↑ Peter Matthiessen, End of the Earth, National Geographic Society, 2003, page 197.
  12. ↑ Richard Sale and Madeleine Lewis, Explorers, Smithsonian, 2005, page 34.
  13. ↑ History Channel December 8, 2000 and May 7, 2001.
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