ABSTRACT

This chapter presents the results of an instrument-centred analysis of the study of geography, technology, and exploration with reference to the role of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) between the later nineteenth century and the first 30 years of the twentieth century. In elaborating upon these ideas, the chapter attempts to place the lives and liveliness of instruments centrally in our understanding of the nature of geographical exploration and in the workings of the RGS. The analyses of the Instruments Lent to Travellers and the Catalogue of Instruments to illustrate the use made of different sorts of precision devices and to chart their geographical mobility and fractured lives. The chapter examines two principal features as they relate to one another and to the already examined RGS's strategy over instruments: John Coles' role as instructor, and his central involvement, together with the Hints to Travellers' Editorial Sub-Committee, in modifying the content and purpose of Hints over instruments.