science

Pinchot South Sea Expedition

Pinchot South Sea Expedition is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pinchot South Sea Expedition rather than just read about it. In short: The Pinchot South Sea Expedition was a 1929 zoological expedition to the Caribbean and South Pacific led and financed by Gifford Pinchot. Itinerary and personnel The expedition departed from New York City on 31 March 1929 aboard the Pinchots' yacht Mary Pinchot.

Key takeaways

Pinchot South Sea Expedition belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pinchot South Sea Expedition to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pinchot South Sea Expedition from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Pinchot South Sea Expedition was a 1929 zoological expedition to the Caribbean and South Pacific led and financed by Gifford Pinchot.

Itinerary and personnel The expedition departed from New York City on 31 March 1929 aboard the Pinchots' yacht Mary Pinchot. Gifford Pinchot organized, financed, and led the expedition, which collected zoological specimens (and a few botanical specimens) for the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. The captain was Frederick A. Brown of Port Jefferson, New York, and the chief engineer was Henry Christensen. Aboard ship, besides the captain and crew, were Gifford Pinchot, his wife and fellow conservationist Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, their son Gifford Pinchot, Jr. (1916–1989), and Pinchot Jr.'s schoolmate Steve Stahlnecker. The expedition's photographer was Howard H. Cleaves, and its physician was J. B. Mathewson. The expedition's professional scientists were the malacologist Henry A. Pilsbry and the ornithologists A. K. Fisher and Alexander Wetmore. Harry A. Slattery accompanied the expedition from New York City to Panama. The yacht Mary Pinchot visited Key West (for a few days undergoing minor yacht repairs) and then Havana (for a one-day tourist trip). The expedition then visited Grand Cayman, the Swan Islands, Isla de Providencia and Isla de San Andrés collecting specimens. The Mary Pinchot went through the Panama Canal and then to Cocos Island. The expedition collected in the Galápagos, Marquesas, and Tuamotus. The expedition reached its final destination, Tahiti, on October 15. Before the end of October, Pinchot's party departed Tahiti and then returned by steamer to San Francisco. By early November, Pinchot and his family were in Washington, D.C. Captain Brown and the crew of the Mary Pinchot went back through the Panama Canal and arrived at the yacht's winter station at Savannah, Georgia in December 1929.

Documentary of the expedition Howard Cleaves documented the expedition with a motion picture film that was shown in movie theaters throughout the United States. Cornelia Bryce Pinchot gave free talks with showings of Cleaves's documentary film. Mordaunt Hall, a 1930s movie critic, wrote concerning Cleaves's film:

There are amazing scenes of natives jumping into the crystal waters, harpoon in hand, to land on the backs of the enormous sea bats. After plunging the weapon in them, they swim away and climb back over the boat's side. There are views of the San Bias Indians, of enormous land turtles, iguanas, sea tigers and Man-O'-War hawks.

Collections and discoveries The expedition brought back several living reptiles:

Hon. Gifford Pinchot, who cruised the Pacific on a notable expedition, brought home with him for the National Zoological Park a specimen of the almost extinct Duncan Island tortoise, a Hood Island tortoise, four Albemarle tortoises, and three land iguanas, all from the Galapagos. These are very important additions and make the collection of giant tortoises one of the finest. On Isla de Providencia, the expedition discovered a new lizard species, which Doris Cochran named Anolis pinchoti. The expedition discovered the fish species Entomacrodus corneliae, which Henry Fowler named Giffordella corneliae. The expedition's malacologist Pilsbry identified several new mollusk species, including the genus Giffordius (two species) and Chionopsis pinchoti. Pilsbry's claim of a new species Drymaeus pinchoti is rejected in favor of the subspecies Drymaeus rufescens pinchoti; Codakia pinchoti is rejected in favor of Codakia distinguenda. A. K. Fisher and Alexander Wetmore, with the assistance of Pinchot Sr. and Jr., collected approximately 500 bird skins and skeletons and a few eggs; Fisher made detailed field notes.

References

External links South Seas, release date: 1 Sep 1930, duration: 64 min., AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pinchot South Sea Expedition

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pinchot South Sea Expedition claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pinchot South Sea Expedition before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pinchot South Sea Expedition ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pinchot South Sea Expedition

In research: Pinchot South Sea Expedition appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pinchot South Sea Expedition in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pinchot South Sea Expedition is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1929 in science, Pacific expeditions, Zoological expeditions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pinchot South Sea Expedition outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pinchot South Sea Expedition in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pinchot South Sea Expedition means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Pinchot South Sea Expedition in simple terms?

The Pinchot South Sea Expedition was a 1929 zoological expedition to the Caribbean and South Pacific led and financed by Gifford Pinchot. Itinerary and personnel The expedition departed from New York City on 31 March 1929 aboard the Pinchots' yacht Mary Pinchot.

Why does Pinchot South Sea Expedition matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pinchot South Sea Expedition?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pinchot South Sea Expedition.