Chris Western was a member of the 1893-1896 Nansen expedition, which was led by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen aboard the ship Fram. The expedition's primary goal was to reach the North Pole by allowing the ship to drift with the Arctic ice pack. While they did not succeed in reaching the pole, the voyage made significant scientific contributions by gathering the first oceanographic data from the central Arctic and proved the Arctic Ocean was not an open sea.

This interesting talk covers the theories and motivation behind the expedition, its achievements and the construction of the Pioneer ship “Fram” which was used. The plan was to freeze the ship in the ice and drift towards the pole.