1872 and HMS Challenger sets sail on a groundbreaking three and half year voyage around the globe to sample and map the deep ocean.

I first heard of this Victorian era voyage on a podcast courtesy of radio 4’s “In our time” and found it fascinating. It evoked the classic Star Trek monologue ~ “These are the voyages…” so I bought this book to learn more.

At the time the common view of the ocean floor was as a featureless waste, impossible for life. This expedition proved things were much more complex and laid the groundwork for modern oceanography. The thing that really stands out for me was the combination of invention, ambition and organisation. New techniques and tools for measuring and sampling at depth which were constantly improved and updated through the voyage. The sense of can-do and commitment. And the organisation that made the expedition so fruitful. By using the resources of the then British Empire they could resupply (you need a LOT of sounding rope, jars and preserving alcohol), report back preliminary findings and return copious quantities of samples though the nascent Royal Mail.

And once those samples were back in Britain (actually Edinburgh) they were meticulously catalogued and stored, analysed by experts across the world potentially requiring further transport. There had been other less ambitious expeditions conducted elsewhere but their contribution was diminished by poor record keeping or preservation.

Eventually the Challenger expedition produced 50 volumes of findings and the samples and records are still relevant today. The reports themselves were in themselves of an unusually high quality utilising colour plates, photographs, maps and illustrations to present the results.

This book, published on the expedition’s 150th anniversary, is gorgeous in its own right featuring extensive plates and illustrations. Rather than a linear chronological narrative the author devotes chapters to specific aspects of the voyage such as photography at sea. The result is an appreciation of the many threads needed for a successful endeavour as well as the very human stories of those involved.

It also maybe asks questions about how timid our science research has become. It does feel hard to imagine Britain undertaking such a project today.