Carl Weyprecht

and the International
Polar Years 

An important book that, describing Carl Weyprecht's life, German by birth and “triestino” by choice, retraces the history of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the XIX Century: its wars with Italy, the tragic Mexican adventure of Maximilian of Habsburg, the Austrian polar expeditions. The key part of the book, however, is perhaps the second one, dealing with the creation of the International Polar Year (IPY) 1882-1883 – desired by Weyprecht, inspired by the scientific and cosmopolitan environment of Trieste - which paved the road for an era of international treaties on scientific research.
The book goes on to relate how, after Weyprecht's death, his great project evolved, with the simultaneous Antarctic expeditions 1901-1903, the International Polar Commission - forerunner of the SCAR - established in 1906, the IPY 1932-1933, the IGY 1957-1958, the SCAR, the Arctic Council and, finally, the concurrent IPY, IHY, IYPE and eGY 2007-2009.

THE AUTHOR

Enrico Mazzoli was born in Trieste on February 25, 1953. A graduate in Political Science, he is Curator at the Museum of the Sea in Trieste, as well as journalist and essayist.
For years he has devoted himself to the study of the history of the Austro-Hungarian Navy and, above all, of its scientific expeditions.