The Cartographer Who Outran His Own Map

In 1845, Sir John Franklin led 129 men into the Arctic aboard the Erebus and Terror, searching for the Northwest Passage. They carried fine china, a 1,200-volume library, and a patented engine for heating seawater. What they did not carry was humility enough to learn from the Inuit, who had navigated those frozen channels for centuries. Franklin pressed ahead, convinced that superior technology and bold ambition could outpace ancient knowledge.…