Sir Edward Sabine (; 14 October 1788 – 26 June 1883) was an Irish astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist, explorer, soldier and the 30th president of the Royal Society.
He led the effort to establish a system of magnetic observatories in various parts of British territory all over the globe. Much of his life was devoted to their direction and to analyzing their observations. Other research focused on the birds of Greenland, ocean temperatures, the Gulf Stream, barometric measurement of heights, arc of the meridian, glacial transport of rocks, the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands and various points of meteorology.
Early life
Edward Sabine was born in Dublin to Joseph Sabine, a member of a prominent Anglo-Irish family who was visiting his Irish relatives at the time of his son's birth. The family connections with Ireland can be traced back to the 17th century. His mother, Sarah Hunt, died when he was just one month old. He was the couple's fifth son and ninth child. One of his older brothers was naturalist Joseph Sabine. His father returned to their home of Tewin in Hertfordshire soon after his birth.
He was educated at Marlow and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In 1803, at age 15, he obtained a commission in the Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant, becoming a captain ten years later and eventually attaining the rank of general in 1870.
Sabine was stationed in Gibraltar during the Peninsular War, but it was in the War of 1812 that he had his first taste of combat. On 24 June 1813, while traveling to Canada, the English packet ship was attacked by an American privateer. In the ensuing battle Sabine, who was the Manchester's astronomer, reportedly handled a gun "to good effect". The ship was captured and after his release Sabine travelled from Halifax to Quebec. He was in charge of a small outpost and was involved in resisting the American advance on Lower Canada in the winter of 1813–1814.
Sabine continued to see action in the War of 1812, particularly in the Niagara Campaign in August and September 1814. Under George Gordon Drummond he commanded the batteries at the Siege of Fort Erie and was mentioned twice in dispatches. He returned to England and devoted the remainder of his long life to the more peaceful pursuits of astronomy, terrestrial magnetism and physical geography.
Scientific expeditions
Ross expedition
Sabine was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in April 1818, and it was thanks to the society's recommendations that he was invited to take part that year in Captain John Ross's first Arctic expedition. As the expedition's appointed astronomer, Sabine was told to assist Ross "in making such observations as may tend to the improvement of geography and navigation and the advancement of science in general".
Although the principal purpose of the voyage was to find the Northwest Passage, several objects of scientific curiosity were deemed worthy of investigation, such as the location of the Earth's north magnetic pole and the behaviour of pendulums in high latitudes which provided information on the shape of the earth. Sabine also made ornithological observations.
The expedition failed to discover the Northwest Passage and ended in controversy. When Ross found his progress through Lancaster Sound blocked by sea ice, he turned around and headed back to Britain, much to the annoyance of the other members of the expedition. Both Sabine and Ross's second-in-command, William Edward Parry, doubted the very existence of the so-called Croker Mountains, which it seems only Ross saw. Objecting to Ross's precipitate retreat, Sabine later recalled his "very visible mortification at having come away from a place which I considered as the most interesting in the world for magnetic observations and where my expectations had been raised to the highest pitch, without having had an opportunity of making them".
To make matters worse, a very public row broke out between the two men when they arrived home. Sabine objected when Ross claimed the credit for certain magnetic observations. He also accused Ross of stealing magnetic measurements without giving him due credit and of refusing to allow him enough time on the expedition to take accurate readings. Sabine was later able to recover credit for them.