Editing Edward Sabine (section)

== More Detailed Analysis of his Scientific expeditions. ==

===Ross expedition===
Sabine was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in April 1818,<ref name="DCB">{{Cite web |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/sabine_edward_11E.html |title=Sabine, Sir Edward - Biography |website=biographi.ca |access-date=8 May 2019}}</ref> and it was thanks to the society's recommendations that he was invited to take part that year in Captain [[John Ross (Arctic explorer)|John Ross]]'s first Arctic expedition. As the expedition's appointed astronomer, Sabine was told to assist Ross "in making such observations as may tend to the improvement of geography and navigation and the advancement of science in general".

Although the principal purpose of the voyage was to find the [[Northwest Passage]], several objects of scientific curiosity were deemed worthy of investigation, such as the location of the Earth's north magnetic pole and the behaviour of pendulums in high latitudes which provided information on the shape of the earth. Sabine also made ornithological observations.<ref name="DCB"/>

The expedition failed to discover the Northwest Passage and ended in controversy. When Ross found his progress through [[Lancaster Sound]] blocked by sea ice, he turned around and headed back to Britain, much to the annoyance of the other members of the expedition. Both Sabine and Ross's second-in-command, [[William Edward Parry]], doubted the very existence of the so-called [[Croker Mountains]], which it seems only Ross saw. Objecting to Ross's precipitate retreat, Sabine later recalled his "very visible mortification at having come away from a place which I considered as the most interesting in the world for magnetic observations and where my expectations had been raised to the highest pitch, without having had an opportunity of making them".

To make matters worse, a very public row broke out between the two men when they arrived home. Sabine objected when Ross claimed the credit for certain magnetic observations. He also accused Ross of stealing magnetic measurements without giving him due credit and of refusing to allow him enough time on the expedition to take accurate readings.  Sabine was later able to recover credit for them.<ref name="DCB"/>

The results of Sabine's magnetic researches were published in the ''[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]''. Although he viewed his work as confirming and extending the discoveries of earlier "magnetic collectors", he stressed the need for the multiplication and repetition of observations. Sabine was a diligent and careful scientist. He generally avoided theoretical discussion in his writings, believing that a true understanding of terrestrial magnetism would only be arrived at after exhaustive observations had been made on a global scale.

===Parry expedition===
The following year, in May 1819, both Edward and Joseph Sabine returned to the Arctic as members of Lieutenant [[William Parry (explorer)|William Edward Parry's]] expedition in search of the Northwest Passage aboard the ''Hecla''. The Admiralty once again instructed the participants to gather such scientific data as "must prove most valuable and interesting to the science of our country." They were to pay particular attention to magnetic measurements, especially the possible interactions between magnetic needles, atmospheric electricity and the [[aurora borealis]]. They were also to attempt to establish the location of the Earth's North Magnetic Pole, then believed to lie somewhere along the western shore of [[Baffin Bay]].

Like Ross, Parry did not find the passage, but he did set a new record for the "furthest west," which stood for several decades. In order to alleviate the tedium of the long Arctic winter, Sabine produced a weekly newspaper for the amusement of the crew. Known as the ''North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle'', it ran for twenty-one issues.<ref name="DCB"/> Due to public demand, it was actually published on their return to Britain &ndash; much to Sabine's surprise.

During this expedition, which lasted until November 1820, Sabine noted that changes in magnetic intensity had taken place since his previous visit. He attributed such changes to either a fluctuation in the Earth's magnetic intensity or the shifting positions of the terrestrial magnetic poles. For his work in the Arctic, Sabine received the [[Copley Medal]] from the Royal Society in 1821.<ref name="DCB"/>