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Clip description
At Mawson base on the Antarctic coast, the new men settle into their tasks, gathering vital weather information to send back to Australia. The radio room operates 16 hours per day, communicating with home base via Perth, Western Australia. A team of physicists gathers data on cosmic rays using a meson telescope.
Curator’s notes
Expedition South is unusual for the amount of detailed science it shows. That suggests the film was primarily for training, rather than viewing by the general public, although most of the films were made for both purposes. This one is also unusual in that it names many of the personnel. Even though Phillip Law was not present during most of the filming, it is likely that he had a major input into its final shape. As a physicist himself, he was constantly frustrated at the lack of recognition of the importance of pure science by his superiors in the Department of External Affairs, the forerunner to today’s Department of Foreign Affairs. This film was made after the successful negotiation in 1959 of a new Antarctic Treaty, in which territorial claims were frozen and science was recognised as a major priority for all of the nations with bases and interests in Antarctica. It may be that Expedition South was a subtle reminder to his bosses in the department, and his new minister, Senator John Gorton, that science was the chief purpose of their Antarctic activity (see main notes).
