Research Catalog

Title

The reindeer botanist : Alf Erling Porsild, 1901-1977 / Wendy Dathan.

Author

Dathan, Patricia Wendy, 1934-

Publication

Calgary : University of Calgary Press, c2012.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Arctic Institute of North America.

Description

xxii, 726 p. : ill., maps, ports.; 23 cm.

Summary

"One of Canada's most remarkable botanists, Alf Erling Porsild (1901-1977) grew up on the Arctic Station in West Greenland, where he later served as Vice/Acting Canadian Consul (1940-43). For nearly twenty years, he studied reindeer activities in Alaska and the Northwest Territories as part of a Canadian project designed to encourage grazing animal husbandry among aboriginal peoples. As Curator of Botany at the National Museum of Canada, he collected thousands of specimens, greatly enlarging the National Herbarium and making it a superb research centre. Porsild's meticulous work and observations have particular relevance today with the growing concern over global warming in the Arctic. This long-awaited biography traces the challenging and adventurous career of an unusual, little-known scientist who battled rivalry, bureaucracy, personal disappointment, and private tragedy. In the end, he earned universal respect for his prodigious publications and intimate knowledge of the people, plants, and land around Canada's Arctic Circle. His story gives the first full account of the Canadian Reindeer Project and Canada's Consulate in wartime Greenland and describes the exploration and mapping of the Canadian flora and growth of the National Herbarium from about 1920 to Porsild's retirement in 1967."--P. [4] of cover.

Series Statement

Northern lights, 1701-0004 ; 14

Uniform Title

Northern lights series ; 14.

Alternative Title

Alf Erling Porsild, 1901-1977

Subject

• Porsild, A. E. 1901-1977
• Porsild, A. E., 1901-1977
• Canadian Reindeer Project > History
• National Herbarium of Canada > History
• Canadian Reindeer Project > Histoire
• Herbier national du Canada > Histoire
• Botanists > Canada > Biography
• Scientists > Canada > Biography
• Botany > Canada, Northern
• Reindeer farming > Canada, Northern
• Botanistes > Canada > Biographies
• Scientifiques > Canada > Biographies
• Botanique > Canada (Nord)
• Renne > Élevage > Canada (Nord)

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic formats.

Issued By (note)

• Co-published by: Arctic Institute of North America.

Contents

• PART ONE Reindeer Survey/Exploration, 1901-1928. -- Greenland Beginnings -- Malte and the National Herbarium -- Call of the Northwest -- In Search of Reindeer -- Little Diomede to Kotzebue Sound -- Coastal Alaska by Dogsled -- Travelling Alone: An Accident and its Consequences -- Mail Time in Aklavik -- Schooner Travel on the Arctic Coast -- Return to Aklavik -- Completing the 1927 Reconnaissance -- Looking Back and Forward -- Winter Trail to Great Bear Lake -- Dease Arm and the Northeast Barrens -- Changing Tides and Seasons -- Of Ice and "Flies" and Miserable Dogs -- McTavish Arm and Conjuror Bay -- End of the Investigation
• PART TWO Canada's Reindeer Herd, 1929-1935. -- Results of the Survey -- "The Best Laid Plans" -- Field Reports, 1930 -- Sad News and Summer in Scandinavia -- Destination Reindeer Station -- The Drive Continues -- The End of the Project
• PART THREE The National Herbarium in Peace and War, 1936-1977. -- The National Herbarium -- 'Publish or Perish" -- Rumbles on the Horizon -- The Problem of Greenland -- Consular Greenland -- Herbarium Interlude -- Greenland's War of Nerves -- Uncertainties in Wartime Ottawa -- Acting Consuls Dunbar and Porsild -- Last Consular Year -- Road to the Yukon -- The Year the War Ended -- Postwar Settlement -- The "Old Man" of the Herbarium -- Storm Over the Arctic -- Study Year in Europe -- Rocky Mountains and Hudson Bay Lowlands -- Ninth International Botanical Congress -- The Last Years.

Call Number

JFE 14-5184

ISBN

• 9781552385869
• 1552385868

LCCN

2012538068

OCLC

777654657

Author

Dathan, Patricia Wendy, 1934-

Title

The reindeer botanist : Alf Erling Porsild, 1901-1977 / Wendy Dathan.

Imprint

Calgary : University of Calgary Press, c2012.

Series

Northern lights, 1701-0004 ; 14

Northern lights series ; 14.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats

Issued also in electronic formats.

Issued By

Co-published by: Arctic Institute of North America.

Added Author

Arctic Institute of North America.

Research Call Number

JFE 14-5184