Explorers

Roald Amundsen in his office, reading a book.

Exploration 101: A Newcomer’s Reading List

Interested in exploration reading but don't know where to...
October 7, 2025
A man with a club beside a tree, illustration

How Arab Traders Hid the Secrets of Cinnamon from Europe

At this point, it's fairly common knowledge that the...
September 21, 2025
vintage illustration of an orchid

Benedikt Roezl and the 19th-Century Orchid Monomaniacs

You've almost certainly owned an orchid at least once...
July 30, 2025
A portrait of a man superimposed on a picture of a Chinese tea plantation

How A Scottish Botanist Stole the Secrets of Tea from China

In 2023, the world consumed more than 7.3 billion...
June 28, 2025
a photo of two men and a dog in front of a sea plane

Great Explorers: Gunther Pluschow

By the time Gunther Pluschow's aircraft plowed into a...
March 8, 2025
a composite image of two men with a wrecked ship overlayed

Great Explorers: Nordenskjold, Larsen, and the Swedish Antarctic Expedition

In the end, in the dark, it all came...
March 7, 2025
Anatoli Boukreev.

Remembering Anatoli Boukreev

This week, alpinist Anatoli Boukreev would have turned 67....
January 18, 2025
a portrait of a man laid over a map of australia

Great Explorers: Charles Sturt

In the 1800s, many explorers flocked to the polar...
December 10, 2024
period sketch of Henry W. Howgate

From Arctic Influencer to Fugitive: The Strange Story of Henry Howgate

Henry Howgate was not himself an arctic explorer, but...
December 5, 2024
a painting of Adam Johann von Krusenstern in Kamchatka's Avacha Bay

Great Explorers: Adam Johann von Krusenstern

In the early 1800s, a Russian naval officer pored...
December 3, 2024
b/w portrait of Masatsugu Konishi.

Remembering Masatsugu Konishi

Born November 19, 1938, the charismatic Japanese mountaineer Masatsugu...
November 19, 2024
the face of a victorian woman superimposed of a map of the nile

Great Explorers: Florence Baker

In 1861, in present-day South Sudan, Victorian explorer and...
November 13, 2024
b/w portrait of Gunter Oskar Dyhrenfurth

Remembering Gunter Oskar Dyhrenfurth

On this day in 1886, the German-Swiss mountaineer, geologist,...
November 12, 2024
A statue of Zheng He.

Great Explorers: Zheng He

Fifteenth-century China was a maritime powerhouse that explored new...
November 8, 2024
A portrait of Tavernier.

Great Explorers: Jean Baptiste Tavernier

During the violence and instability of 17th-century Europe, monarchies...
November 7, 2024
b/w portrait of Augusto Gansser.

Augusto Gansser: Geologist and Explorer of the Himalaya

One hundred and fourteen years ago today, in 1910,...
October 28, 2024
a portrait of Alexander Gordon Laing

Great Explorers: Alexander Gordon Laing

Say what you will about the British Empire in...
September 23, 2024
Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard.

Great Explorers: Auguste Piccard

There are explorers who plumb great depths: Bob Ballard,...
September 14, 2024
Illustration of Benjamin of Tudela.

Great Explorers: Benjamin of Tudela

Before Marco Polo and the great medieval travelers, a...
September 7, 2024
a composite image of a bearded man in 19th century dress and a jungle

Great Explorers: Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay

In the 19th century, biology, physics, chemistry, archaeology, geology,...
August 15, 2024
Gino Watkins sitting in a kayak

Great Explorers: Gino Watkins

The annals of polar exploration are filled with luminaries...
July 5, 2024
an illustration of trapper and scout Old Bill Williams

Great Explorers: Old Bill Williams

The humans who cast their eyes to far horizons...
June 26, 2024
Jim Bridger superimposed over a geyser

Great Explorers: Jim Bridger

Here's a recipe. Take one part larger-than-life figure, add...
June 17, 2024
Drawing of John C. Fremont.

Great Explorers: John C. Fremont

Skilled explorer or overreaching dilettante? Crusading abolitionist or violent...
May 9, 2024

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