author
William Scoresby
1789–1857
An Arctic whaler turned scientist and clergyman, he helped transform firsthand polar experience into careful observation and vivid writing. His work opened up the far north for readers while also advancing the study of sea ice, magnetism, and Arctic conditions.
3 Audiobooks
The Arctic regions and the northern whale-fishery
by William Scoresby
The northern whale-fishery
by William Scoresby
About the author
Born near Whitby in 1789, he went to sea young in the family whaling trade and became one of the best-known British observers of the Arctic. Repeated voyages gave him unusually deep practical knowledge of polar waters, ice, and weather, and that experience fed directly into the books and journals that made his name.
He was more than an explorer: he also studied at the University of Edinburgh, later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and earned respect for his scientific work on the Arctic and on terrestrial magnetism. In time he entered the Church of England, bringing together the roles of mariner, researcher, and clergyman in a life that never fit neatly into a single category.
Scoresby is remembered for writing about the polar world with both precision and wonder. For modern readers, his appeal lies in that combination: hard-earned experience, real curiosity, and a strong sense that remote places were worth understanding as well as surviving.