Drawings of ice crystals and snowflakes

The Rev. Dr. William Scoresby 1789 to 1857. Like his father he rose to be captain of a whaling ship and was for some 30 years a successful whaler. While in the Arctic regions he surveyed the coasts of Greenland and Jan Mayan island. He studied the flora and fauna and ice and snowflake formations under different weather conditions. During the winter months, when on shore, he studied science subjects at Edinburgh University under Joseph Black. His invention of a "Marine Diver" enabled him to measure the temperature, density and the marine life at different depths of the Arctic waters. He made a detail study of refraction both in the Arctic seas and in the North Sea, surveyed and mapped the East Coast of Greenland and Jan Meyene Island north of Greenland. He carried out some 300 experiments in magnetism to determine the maximum strength achievable using components made from iron and steels of varying quality as part of his search for a more reliable magnetic needle for the compass. He carried out extensive experiments to determine the effects on the compass and the chronometer by iron and steel on a ship. He later became a clergyman. His papers and drawings are in Whitby Museum.