THE BROWN EXPEDITION IN SCIENCE AND HISTORY

Broad narratives on the history of the modern world rarely include references to the Brown expedition. One could go as far as to state that it has never even been mentioned in such a book. When we examine the more specialised publications that delve into the subject of scientific exploration we find the same lack of coverage. When further narrowing our scope to books and articles about the history of subterranean scientific exploration of the Earth’s interior using mechanical vehicles to bore into the bedrock, the literature comes out severely lacking as well - at least in terms of coverage of this specific expedition. 

But the Brown expedition did leave contemporary written traces, in newspaper articles, scientific papers, and memoirs written by the expedition members. In putting together this modern retelling of the story, the researchers have gathered a number of writings of various kinds. All of these can be found on our Bibliography page. 

Here is an overview of the different kinds of textual evidence our research has uncovered:

• Contemporary news reports, advertisements and letters to the editor

• Memoirs and diaries written by individual members of the expedition

• Scientific articles reporting the findings of the expedition

• Ephemeral publications and lightweight entertainment (such as poetry, music etc.)

Memoirs and diaries

Scientific articles

Ephemera

Contemporary news reports

Film still from the 1938 feature film Three Men in a a Tunneling Vessel, now unfortunately lost. The film is presumed to have been a rather fanciful imagining of The Brown Expedition, told in a humorous and lighthearted manner.