When the Northern Lights were measured with pencil and geometry

In the winter of 1838-39, a French scientific expedition arrived in Northern Norway and the Altafjord to study natural phenomena in the High North. The expedition was led by the French naval physician and naturalist Paul Gaimard, and is later known as the Gaimard expedition, or La Recherche expedition after the ship that was used. The voyage was part of the Commission scientifique du Nord, a French government initiative aimed at [...]...