THE GERMAN TRANSIT OF VENUS EXPEDITION AT THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS 1874 – 1875 By Elliot W. Dawson & Hilmar W. Duerbeck
2008
THE GERMAN TRANSIT OF VENUS EXPEDITION AT THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS 1874 – 1875 By Elliot W. Dawson & Hilmar W. Duerbeck
2008
THE GERMAN TRANSIT OF VENUS EXPEDITION AT THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS 1874 -1875 Elliot W. Dawson & Hilmar W. Duerbeck
The Hutton Foundation New Zealand Special Papers No. 3 2008
Published by the Hutton Foundation New Zealand At The Wallypug Press Eastbourne, New Zealand ISSN 1175-9275 © Elliot W. Dawson & Hilmar W. Duerbeck
THE GERMAN TRANSIT OF VENUS EXPEDITION AT THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS 1874-1875 By Elliot W. Dawson & Hilmar W. Duerbeck ABSTRACT The German Transit of Venus Expedition at the Auckland Islands stayed in Terror Cove, Port Ross for nearly 5 months. Its activities and achievements are little known but are remarkable from several aspects: the first resident scientific expedition on the Auckland Islands; the longest staying expedition (apart from the wartime coastwatchers, known as the Cape Expedition); its origin and organization as the first German government scientific venture; the subsequent career of its members, notably the pioneer photographer Hermann Krone; the early use of photography in astronomy; the fortuitous preservation of its photographic record; its collateral collections of natural history; the obscurity of its publications; its remaining archaeological vestiges; and the Chief Photographer’s amazing travelogue written in poems in the style of the ‘Odyssey’. PROLOGUE On 18th August 1806 Captain Abraham Bristow, of the Southern Whale Fishery Company, discovered the Auckland Islands, some 300 km south of New Zealand, during his return voyage to London from Hobart in the Ocean. Since those days the Auckland Islands have been the scene of many shipwrecks, visits by sealers and whalers, and scientific expeditions, and even the site of a short-lived attempt at permanent settlement, and even more remarkably, there is evidence of their prior discovery by voyaging Polynesians as early as the 12th century. Latterly, on account of their amazing flora and fauna, the Auckland Islands have become the subject of much scientific research and conservation work, as well as becoming a superb attraction for well-controlled ecotourism. Now they are well protected by virtue of their designation as a World Heritage Site. To mark the Bicentenary of the discovery of the Auckland Islands, the Royal Society of New Zealand hosted a special symposium in Wellington from 17th to 19th August 2006. A wide variety of papers was presented, including a progress report on current research on the German Transit of Venus Expedition which spent nearly 5 months at Terror Cove in Port Ross from 1874 to 1875. Because so little is known in New Zealand about this expedition and its achievements, there was much interest in this particular presentation especially during the subsequent tea-breaks and afterdinner conversations. Quite a number of participants asked for more detail about various aspects of the expedition in which they were especially interested. The actual presentation was given in very general terms, hopefully with something for every listener, whatever his or her interests might be; there was a great deal more that could have been said according to the backgrounds of either of the co-authors! Accordingly, in response to enquirers’ needs, our contribution on the German expedition is reproduced here, but somewhat expanded from the original version as given by the first-named author who delivered it as a Power Point presentation on 18th August 2006.
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1874 was a great year for many people … the invention of barbed wire and of Levi jeans, the birth of Marconi and of Shackleton, and Disraeli ousted Gladstone. HMS Challenger visited Wellington, half-way through her epic 4-year scientific voyage. For astronomers, however, it was another chance to have a go at measuring the astronomical unit (AU), the distance between the Earth and the Sun – a question that had intrigued observers of the heavens since at least the 3rd century BC, when Aristarchos of Samos tried to determine the moment when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth form a right-angled triangle. WHY was this important ? It is fairly easy to derive the relative distances of the planets – including Earth – from the Sun by determining their periods of revolution P, and calculating the distances a from Kepler’s third law of planetary motion: a3 = P2. However, in the case of the Earth, with P = 1 year, the distance is also 1 (astronomical unit), and to get a proper scale of the solar system, it was necessary to determine this unit (or its inverse, the so-called solar parallax) by triangulation. The solar parallax is the angle subtended by the Earth’s radius as seen from the Sun. This type of triangulation means, however, that one has to carry out angular measurements of the solar disc (or a specific region on it, e.g. a sunspot) relative to planets or stars at similar moments from different places on Earth. Such measurements are extremely difficult due to the overwhelming brightness of the Sun, whose light obliterates the faint light of other celestial objects.
[Courtesy of David Sellars, MagaVelda Press, 2006]
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But in 1716 Edmund Halley (of comet fame) thought up a way of getting rid of this problem by observing the passage of the image of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun. This phenomenon is known as a transit of Venus: the image of the planet appears as a small black circle on the solar disc, and its position relative to the margin of the Sun can be easily measured.
[Courtesy of David Sellars, MagaVelda Press, 2006]
The drawback is that this was a very rare happening: Venus had to be at a point in its orbit which is near the intersection line of its orbital plane with the plane of the Earth’s orbit – only then the three bodies are “in line”, and Venus passes in front of the Sun. This situation occurs at present times in a 243-year cycle involving 4 irregular intervals, short ones 8 years apart and long ones around 100 years apart occurring in pairs, early June and December: hence June 1761 and 1769, 105½ years later, December 1874 and 1882, and 121½ years later, June 2004 and 2012. While the transits of the 18th century were diligently observed, poor weather, instrumental problems and unforeseen astronomical complications had made the results somewhat unreliable. With more sophisticated instrumentation, and the “modern” technique of photography, astronomers were eager to make the most of 1874 …
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Halley’s method required some rather more involved mathematics, but it depended on thoroughly accurate measurements in the first place.
[after Meagher, 1978. J. astr. Soc. Vict. 31]
The minor planet Eros was discovered by two German astronomers in 1898 and proved to have none of the disadvantages found for Venus. However, the introduction of radar in astronomy from 1931 provided a far more precise way for determining the Astronomical Unit, and the Transit of Venus faded to a mere interesting phenomenon for star-gazers to see – if they lived long enough! Nevertheless, the exactitude of the AU is still fundamentally important - without precise determinations to-day’s space flights and the positioning of shuttles and satellites would be impossible.1 As it turned out in the end, similar to the 18th century Venus transit observations, those carried out by many astronomers from different nations of the 1874 and 1882 transits yielded results that fell short of the general expectations, despite all the efforts and considerable finance involved – but we don’t have to comment in details about the reasons here … Whereas the 18th century transits were mainly observed by astronomers of the (not only scientific) “superpowers” Britain and France, the 1874 Transit was remarkable in that it was the first truly international scientific enterprise involving quite a number of expeditions from various countries: Britain, France, Russia, the United States, Mexico; 6 separate teams were sent from Germany to China, Kerguelen, Mauritius, Iran, Egypt, and the Auckland Islands. Afterwards, the British team instantly admitted failure; the Americans spent a lot of energy in analysing their data, resulting in no more than a first volume, summarised in one short paper; the French, at least, got some valuable natural history done on Campbell Island. The Germans, however, for whom it was the first Government-supported scientific venture, backed by Kaiser Wilhelm I himself, however, managed to publish 6 large volumes totalling nearly 4000 pages, including very detailed day-by-day doings on the Auckland Islands. – Unhappily, there seemed to
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be no knowledge of this to the Americans at least – who thought the Germans had done nothing much – if you publish in German in obscure European places, what would you expect? The doings of the German Expedition are not well known – certainly not in New Zealand – the results were published in German - in journals not taken in any New Zealand libraries. The amazing narrative by the Chief Photographer, Hermann Krone, written in verse in the style of the Odyssey, is exceedingly rare – we know of only two copies in German libraries.2 Significant natural history collections were also made3 – again published in obscure journals. Hence, here’s the happy task of three of us, two colleagues in Germany4 and one in New Zealand – together we’re trying to flesh out the members of that 1874 expedition and what they did during their nearly 5 months on the Auckland Islands …
THE HIGHLIGHTS
The expedition consisted of a party of 8, most of whom left Hamburg for London whence they sailed in the steamer Durham from Plymouth on 23rd July 1874. After a 56-day voyage, via the Cape of Good Hope, during which the Chief Photographer Hermann Krone meticulously recorded meteorological and astronomical observations, they arrived in Melbourne, Australia, on 18th September. Here they met up with the other three members, one of the astronomers, Dr Hugo Seeliger, and two Naval Officers, who had left earlier from Brindisi in Italy coming via the Suez Canal. The three had been arranging supplies and equipment including prefabricated buildings. With great difficulty they eventually managed to charter a French barque on the sugar trade with China, the 250-ton Alexandrine, the Captain with the delightful name of Veaujoyeux, in French slang “a cheerful lazy fellow” – which we’re sure he wasn’t - with the Mate Captain Eugene Gascoigne and 8 crew.
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Here’s some of the Alexandrine’s crew…
The cook, William Renner, the steward Alfred Tobias who was an American, and a Swedish Carpenter called Kruse (or Cruse). They picked up the carpenter in Melbourne, and his task was to erect the prefabricated wooden buildings but it proved too big a job and everyone had to pitch in to help.
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Introducing the expedition members …
1. HUGO SEELIGER (later Hugo von Seeliger),
the first of the two astronomers, was aged 25, born in Austria. He had already been appointed as Observer at the Bonn Observatory, and subsequently became Director of the Munich Observatory and Professor of Astronomy until his death, aged 75, in 1924.
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2. WILHELM SCHUR,
leader of the expedition, was 28, later became Professor of Astronomy at Göttingen University in 1886 and died in 1901 at the early age of 55. His stay on the Auckland Islands is commemorated locally by a wine bottle on which he had inscribed his name, found 99 years later in 1973 and now in Wellington at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. 3. JOHANNES KRONE
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He was the son of the chief photographer, Hermann Krone, and assisted him. He celebrated his 19th birthday on the Auckland Islands, Christmas eve 1874, and died in 1924. His most visible contribution still remaining at the expedition site is the plaque that he inscribed with the words “German Expedition 1874.” Another important effort that he left for posterity is his “Kroki” (Croquis), a sketch which he made of the terrain of the astronomical site, published in one of the folio volumes. During 2003, Kevin Jones and his DOC team of archaeologists attempted to map the site of the 1874 transit expedition, noting the position of instrument pillars and so on, following a brief survey done by a Lands & Survey ranger, William Barberel, in December 1973.5 Thanks to Johannes Krone, we have been able to pride Kevin with a detailed plan of the site with all its features marked (although after the DOC had done their work!). It remains, then, a most valuable reference for future surveys. 4. HERMANN LEYSER He was described as the “mechanic”. As yet we know little more about him.
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5. GUIDO WOLFRAM
He was born in Dresden in 1842. In 1873 he obtained a doctorate in Heidelberg by means of an exam in chemistry, mineralogy and physics From 1875 to 1879 he worked as a chemist at the Chemical Central Bureau for Public Health in Dresden, and for another two years as a professional photographer in the same city. He obtained one or more patents for inventions suitable for photography, but his whereabouts and his year of death – possibly in the first decade of the 20th century – are not known to us. We know at least 62 high-quality photographs taken by him on the Auckland Islands. 6. Kapitän-Leutnant W.J. BECKS,
of the Imperial German Navy, was one of the two naval officers attached to the expedition. Their duties included the collection of meteorological, magnetic and tidal observations, and care of their 8 chronometers.
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To determine the longitudinal differences between the Auckland Island astronomical station and the nearest other transit station (that of the American expedition at Bluff Harbour) - it was necessary to compare chronometers. This was supposed to have done before the transit but the Alexandrine was delayed because the crew had to pitch in and help clearing and setting up the campsite – so it wasn’t until 12th December – 3 days after the transit – that Becks embarked on the Alexandrine with 4 chronometers, arriving at Bluff after a rough 6-day trip only to find that the US station had been moved to Queenstown, so comparisons had to be made by telegraph. The Alexandrine returned to Port Ross on Christmas eve, with the surprise of finding there the US expedition’s support ship Swatara which had arrived the previous day. 7. Unter-Leutnant R. SIEGEL, of the Imperial German Navy, who worked with Becks.
8. HERMANN KRONE,
(1827-1916), chief photographer and heliograph operator, aged 47 then, the oldest member of the expedition (hence being known as “Papa” Krone!), was born in Breslau, then in Germany now in Poland and renamed Wrocław. Enough to say that he was one of Germany’s greatest
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photographers, well-reputed for his research and later teaching at the Dresden Technical Highschool.
He travelled through Saxonian and Bohemian Switzerland (actually part of the Czech Republic), taking magnificent photographs of that unusual landscape, and made outstanding portraits of men, women and children, as well of some distinguished scientists of the times.
He was especially honoured in 19986 by exhibitions of his prolific work, especially in Dresden where he taught and worked so much and where most of his photographs are now carefully curated.
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His contributions to photography and astronomy have also been well documented7 in several commemorative volumes, one of which figured some of his Auckland Islands photos on the dustjacket.8
After his wife’s death in 1897, he wrote up his journals in epic poem form,
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running to 4 volumes, of which volume 2 tells of the Auckland Islands,
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over 300 pages of Gothic script full of interesting comments – even poems about the hens and geese which they’d brought from Melbourne.2
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THE EXPEDITION NARRATIVE The Alexandrine departed Melbourne on 4th October, heavily laden with 82 crates of equipment including metal sheds which the main party had brought from Germany plus the other supplies and wooden buildings that had been obtained in Melbourne. The voyage to the Auckland Islands took 12 days of which only five were relatively calm. They reached Port Ross on 16th October where they found the schooner Mabel Jane belonging to Dr Monckton of Invercargill who had leased the Auckland Islands as a sheep station, leaving a shepherd Alfred (Fred) Nelson and his wife as caretakers at that time. Monckton’s Agent gave the Germans permission to set up their base – we wonder what would have happened if he’d turned nasty and refused… They chose Terror Cove which they knew from Ross’s account (they’d also read the stories of the Grafton, the Invercauld and the General Grant, and subsequently, photographed huts and other relics of those events). The ship’s boats proved to be too small so the crew had the long job of rowing half-a-mile to the shore towing rafts. The clearing and building on the site took until 28th November - with only a few days to go before the transit – but much still to be done by the astronomers. What about the day of Transit itself – the day to which all this preparation had been leading up? The morning of the 9th December broke with a row of heavy dark clouds – then soon after the scarcely-visible beginning of the transit, the face of the sun was clear and the astronomers made the most of every minute to measure position angles and angular distances with the heliometer and transit-circle and the photographers used their heliograph to record the progress of the Venus dot across the sun’s disc which could be clearly seen. Then, just as they had about 120 photographs – they had about 4 hours - the clouds rolled from the west and they didn’t see the sun again for 14 days …
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THE AFTERMATH After 4 months and 20 days at Port Ross (during which they’d only had 14 days without rain) they sailed on 6th March for Melbourne, leaving only the instrument pillars, a plaque commemorating the station’s location, and some bottles behind them – but not, however, without a little drama as the Alexandrine was caught in a strong Westerly and drifted on to Shoe Island. Captain Becks took over and disaster at the last moment was averted. After 22 days they arrived at Melbourne on 28th March. They put up at the famous Menzies Hotel and were given a right Royal welcome with concerts and similar festivities. The main party departed from Melbourne on 19th April 1875 in the RMS China bound for Venice. Hermann Krone, however, spent more time in Victoria, photographing, exploring and recording much of the flora and fauna, working his way across southern Australia, and travelling back to Germany via India and Egypt, again observing and recording his experiences in great detail, arriving back in Dresden by the end of June 1875. The photographic records of the Expedition suffered some vicissitudes. The original plates of all expeditions, stored at first at the Berlin Academy were given to Potsdam Astrophysical Institute, where they were destroyed during an air raid. Photographic prints of the Auckland Islands expedition are scattered to-day throughout a number of German observatories as well as in photographic institute where Hermann Krone worked, but of the 115 photographs of the actual transit itself only a paper print has survived. 9 Fortunately, 4 years after the expedition, Hermann Krone presented to Sir Redmond Barry, Chairman of the Melbourne Museum and Library, two albums of large format prints. These, together with the prints located in German observatories, have proved invaluable for trying to list the totality of photographs taken during the expedition - the first photographs taken on the Auckland Islands – quite superb by to-day’s standards!
CHRISTMAS EVE A year later, 1876, Captain R. Chandler of the USS Swatara described, in the New York Tribune, how he had been worried that nothing had been heard from the Germans, and decided to call in at Port Ross on his way back from Hobart to Bluff. Coming in to Port Ross on the day before Christmas eve, he spied the German flag lying over on one of the observatories and heard cheers ringing out across the water.
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He described the Germans as “looking fat and hearty, with no signs of having been in a starving condition on a desolate island.” They all had a hilarious Christmas Dinner aboard the Swatara, with festivities lasting right through to Christmas morning, described by Chandler as evidence of true international friendship. Captain Chandler vividly recalled the hilarious aspects of that evening … “It being Christmas eve, of course, they were all kept on board to dinner as the Swatara was only four days from Tasmania, and the officers had kept good fare for a Christmas dinner. There were the first astronomers and photographers sitting at the Christmas dinner on board an American man-of-war anchored in the harbor of a desolate island, and to a looker-on the friendly feeling displayed would lead one to think that a separated band of brothers had been united. Toast and song went round, and as the Swatara had a piano on board, belonging to one of the lieutenants, the songs were accompanied by music … the chief photographer of the Germans raised his hand to attract the attention of all. Streaks of gray were mingled with his black hair, and his face impressed one at once, and indicated that it belonged to a noble man. All eyes were turned toward him, and when silence reigned, he drew his mouth down so that one corner formed a small round O , and in melodious gentle strains began to whistle “Robin Adair.” As bar after bar rolled out, musical, soft, and sweet, involuntarily all were drawn toward the old gentleman,10 and no instrument that ever was heard could give such expression to a tune as did that whistler. Voices were hushed, and those who had no music in their souls were entranced, and when the tune was finished it was just midnight. Our German friends soon left, and I warrant that many dreams of old “Robin Adair” floated through the Swatara on that Christmas morning, way down at the cheerless, desolate Auckland Islands.”
The next day, the German party invited the shepherd and his wife to a “German Christmas party”, described by Krone in an article for the monthly popular magazine Vom Fels zum Meer in 1882/3.11 The woodcut view illustrating the party first appears as a bit of a mystery. It is actually a fabrication – an early example of what, to-day, would done by computer imaging – composed
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from a pencil sketch of the room, and glued-in photographs of the expedition members, and kept in the Munich City Museum. It was given to a wood-cutter to prepare an illustration for the magazine. It shows the expedition’s celebrations, the German members together with the goat “Richard” (left) and the young Newfoundland dog “Māori”. Look at the decorations, the windows! Not shown are the invited shepherd “Fred” and his wife – certainly Krone had no suitable photograph of them at hand. “Māori” appears to have been brought from Melbourne along with three cats that must have helped to keep the mice at bay.
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Krone’s poems tell of leisure activities such as shooting parties for pigs and goats.
The Germans explored a good bit of the northern Auckland Island, giving names to the little creeks in the vicinity of their camp – Seeliger’s Creek, Schur’s Creek, Monckton’s Stream, Ross Creek, and Krone’s Creek. New Zealand Geographic Board, please take note!
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THE CAMP SITE A sketch in a Melbourne paper about 3 weeks after the expedition’s return shows how it looked then …
the dwelling house with a large workroom, a dining room, 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a store. The photos tell us a lot about the appearance of the buildings and the nature of the vegetation at that time.
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and, thanks to Johannes Krone’s plan, we now know the purpose of each building.
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It’s interesting to note the paths and two small gardens – for growing what we can’t imagine – as well as the hen house! The latter one not only to improve the quality of the meals, but also being a source of egg-white, a necessary ingredient for the manufacturing of their photographic plates! Wolfram’s photos give us a panoramic view -
And these are revealing in their detail …
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This photograph shows the tide gauge in Terror Cove.
Our favourite photo – Weary astronomers beside their Transit Circle - Seeliger, Leyser and Becks
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Other instruments were ..
the Steinheil photoheliograph used to take a series of momentary exposures as Venus moved over the Sun’s disc. The Auckland Island one (of a series of four) is preserved in the Bamberg Observatory.
The Fraunhofer heliometer, a now obsolete refracting telescope used to measure angles and double images of the Sun using a micrometer is now kept at the Göttingen Observatory.
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And this is what it was all about – the one remaining photograph of 115 that taken of the Transit at Terror Cove on 9th December 1874 … in fact, the only one remaining from any of all 6 German expeditions.
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Almost all traces of the activity of the German expedition have now been swallowed up in the regenerated forest – save for a few bottles and some cut stumps, the only visible reminders are the brick instrument plinths and the stone slab inscribed by Johannes Krone before the expedition’s departure in 1875.
The plinths and plaque in 1981 [left: two crew members of the DSIR research vessel Tangaroa; right: Elliot Dawson] The turf grazed at this time has now regenerated well since goats and pigs have been eliminated
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The plaque inscribed by Johannes Krone in 1874, photographed by Ian Armitage in January 2007.
NOTES 1 A very good introduction to the story of the various endeavours over the centuries, right up to the 2004 Transit, to determine the true distance of the Sun is David Sellars’ The Transit of Venus – The quest to find the true distance of the Sun. Leeds: MagaVelda Press. 221p, illus. 2001. 2
KRONE, H. 1900: Dichtungen von Hermann Krone (Στέφανς). Zweiter Band. Welt-Reise. I. Die Auckland-Inseln und Australian. Vater und Sohn auf der Welt-Reise 1874, 1875, zur Beobachtung des Venus-Durchgangs 1874 Dezember 9, Station Auckland-Inseln. (Erste wissenschaftliche Expedition des deutschen Reiches.) I. Die Robinsonade auf den Auckland-Inseln. Australian. Zugleich als zweiter Band von Hermann Krone’s “Dichtungen.” Halle a. d. Saale: Commissions-Verlag Otto Hendel. Pp XVI + 1-312. [Krone’s poems (“Dichtungen”) have been analysed recently in a commentary by Dr Rolf H. Krauss, 2006: ‘Der Photograph als Poet – Hermann Krone Dichtungen.’ Pp 289-315 in his Kunst mit Fotografie und andere ausgewähte Texte zur Fotographie. Bielefeld: Kerber.] 3
In response to some questions after this talk concerning the nature of the natural history collections, the following is a brief summary: The collections included terrestrial molluscs – two new species of the large native slug then called Athoracophorus – some marine molluscs including a new species of “Pipi” (the very large Auckland Island form of the estuarine Paphies australis), new species of centipedes and flatworms, many new beetles and two-winged flies, 59 species of seaweeds with 3 new species, 27 species of land plants, including 16 species of weeds from the Enderby Settlement site, and some volcanic rock samples. They were particularly plagued by a vexatious sandfly – on which Krone wrote a special poem. Krone noted other things like crustaceans and kept records of bird species also. He was particularly interested in ferns, and his journal for Victoria especially indicates a good knowledge of their names. During this Symposium, Dr Murray Williams gave a vivid account of habits and history of extinction of the Auckland Island Merganser, Mergus australis, of which only some 26 skins now exist in world museums, the last specimens having been shot during Lord Ranfurly’s visit in 1902. The Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden holds two skins collected by Hermann Krone in 1874. References to reports that have been published on the 1874 collections are included in the forthcoming publication: DAWSON, E.W. 2011: The
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Auckland Islands Subantarctic New Zealand – a working bibliography. The Hutton Foundation New Zealand Special Papers No. 6: 400 p. 4
The third member of our project team is Dr Michael Türkay of the Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt-am-Main, who is trying to locate the present location in various museums of the natural history material collected at the Auckland Islands, especially any that have not yet been studied. 5
BARBEREL, W. 1975: Report on the Victoria Tree and the German 1874 Transit of Venus Expedition camp. Pp 288-291 in: Yaldwyn, J.C. (ed.) Preliminary Results of the Auckland Islands Expedition 1972-73. From reports of participants to the Director-General of Lands. Wellington: Department of Lands & Survey (Reserve Series No. 1975/3). Pp xviii + 1-488, illus. 6
HESSE, W. & STARL, T. (eds) 1998: Der Photopionier Hermann Krone – Photographie und Apparatur. Bildkultur und Phototechnik im 19. Jahrhundert. Kupferstich-Kabinett der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden/Technische Universität Dresden. Marburg: Jonas Verlag für Kunst und Literatur GmbH. Pp 1344, illus. 7
LEHMANN, H.-U. (ed.) Hermann Krone 1827-1916: Werkverzeichnis. Fotografische und fotomechanische Arbeiten. (Catalogue Raisonee). Turnhout: Brepols Publishing NV. Pp 1-368, 4500 figs & CD. [also Newark, NJ: Gordon & Breache, and German edition – München-Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, February 2008].
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HESSE, W. (ed.) 1998: Hermann Krone Historisches Lehrmuseum für Photographie. Experiment. Kunst. Massenmedium. Kupferstich-Kabinertt der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden/Technische Universität Dresden. Verlag der Kunst. Pp 1-365, illus.
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Two earlier accounts of the German expedition by one of the present authors are:
DUERBECK, H.W. 2004a: Die deutschen Expedition von 1874 und 1882 zur Beobachtung der Venusdurchgänge – Plannung und Durchführung eines wissenschaftlichen Großprojektes. Pp 57-97 in: Fürst, D. & Rothenburg, E. (eds) ‘Wege der Erkenntnis. Festschrift für Dieter B. Herrmann zum 65. Geburtstag.’ Acta Historica Astronomiae 21. DUERBECK, H.W. 2004b: The German transit of Venus expeditions of 1874 and 1882: organization, methods, stations, results. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage 7 (1): 8-17.
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Hermann Krone was scarcely old – just 47!
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KRONE, H. 1882/3: Deutsche Weihnachtsfeier auf den Aucklandinseln. Vom Fels zum Meer [ = Spemann’s illustrirte Zeitschrift für das deutsche Haus]. – Berlin: Scherl. Bd 2: 457-465.
The authors are much indebted to the following: Drs Karl Leo and Irene Schmidt of the Technische Universität Dresden for the use of photographs from the Krone-Archiv der TUD; David Sellars for kind permission to use illustrations from his book The Transit of Venus – the quest to find the true distance of the Sun; Ian Armitage for his view of the plaque; Rowley Taylor and John Campbell (of the former Ecology Division, NZ Department of Scientific & Industrial Research) for supplying negatives of some Wolfram photographs, and to Paul Dingwall (formerly of the NZ Department of Conservation) for prints.
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About the authors: Elliot Dawson was with the former New Zealand Oceanographic Institute DSIR [now subsumed in the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd] for 35 years, during which time he carried out benthic faunal surveys and seafloor mapping in and around the Auckland Islands and other parts of the New Zealand Subantarctic and in the Ross Dependency. He is now an Honorary Research Associate in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, where he works on crustaceans and brachiopods. Mail to:
[email protected]
Hilmar Duerbeck is an Honorary Professor at the University of Münster and a scientific collaborator at the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels. His research interests, apart from the history of astronomy and cosmology, are in cataclysmic variable stars, contact binaries, and final helium flash objects. Mail to:
[email protected]
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Publications of The Hutton Foundation New Zealand can be obtained from: The Wallypug Press 17 Kotari Road Eastbourne NEW ZEALAND 5013
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