Abstract

In 1830-1880, Great Britain experienced an overwhelming scientific activity. A social and cultural environment fostered by political and economic liberalism encouraged the convergence of the Royal Society and other scientific institutions with the Royal Navy, aiming at scientific advancement. Various theories about natural and social sciences profited from the results of numerous scientific expeditions. Geology, anthropology and archaeology were the new disciplines that witnessed Charles Darwin’s evolution theory, the main representative of the British scientific panorama. The American South Pacific desert was the space that provided pieces to these highly novel areas of knowledge, where William Bollaert and David Forbes stood out as scientific travelers.