This article outlines the history of natural scientific research in Canada, including physics, astronomy, space science, geology, oceanography, chemistry, biology, and medical research. Neither the social sciences nor the formal sciences are treated here.
Beginnings of science (AD 1600 – AD 1850)
European explorers, universities, and talented amateurs (1600–1850)
Marine science
The early European explorers were responsible for charting much of what would become the east and west coasts of Canada as well as the Arctic. John Cabot, the Italian explorer sailing under the English flag made two voyages to North America in 1497 and 1498 along the coast of what is now called Newfoundland. Gaspar Corte-Real, the Portuguese explorer, is thought to have explored the area along the Newfoundland, Labrador and Greenland coasts in 1500 and 1501. In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano sailing under the French flag, explored the east coast of North America from Cape Fear to Newfoundland. During voyages of exploration in 1534 and 1535–1536, the French explorer Jacques Cartier "discovered" and mapped the St. Lawrence River as far inland as Hochelaga (Montreal). Samuel de Champlain is well known for his explorations of the St Lawrence and Acadia, in 1603 and 1604.
The search for fabled Northwest Passage to the orient intrigued European explorers for 300 years. The first efforts in this regard were made by British explorers Martin Frobisher in 1576 and by John Davis in 1585. In 1610 Henry Hudson made his ill-fated voyage in search of the Passage. William Baffin and Robert Bylot sailed the Arctic sea in the area around what became known as Baffin Island in 1616. While these voyages not successful, in that they did not discover the Northwest Passage, they provided valuable information on the nature of the Arctic Ocean.
Voyages by William Edward Parry in 1819 and John Ross in 1829 added to the growing body of knowledge relating to the north. The Hudson's Bay Company also played a role in Arctic exploration and during the period 1837–1839, Peter Warren Dease and Thomas Simpson of that company explored the Arctic coast from Point Barrow to Rae Strait. In 1845, Sir John Franklin with two ships, and , set sail to find the Passage. He died in the attempt.
In 1774, Captain Juan Perez Hernandez, aboard the Spanish ship Santiago, became the first white man to explore the west coast and is reported to have sailed as far north as the Dixon Entrance. The following year Spanish hydrographer, Bodega y Quadra, drew the first charts to show a part of the west coast of Canada. The renowned Captain James Cook explored the west coast in 1778 as part of an attempt to find the Northwest Passage from the Pacific, rather than the Atlantic side. In 1791–1792 Captain George Vancouver of Britain and Dionisio Alcalá-Galiano and Cayetano Valdés of Spain conducted further surveys in the area.
Universities and talented amateurs
Military surgeon and naturalist Michel Sarrazin (1659–1734), who lived in Quebec for more than four decades, was one of the earliest documenters of the flora and fauna of New France. The Jesuits, learned men who arrived with the colonists, also had an interest in science. In particular they founded in 1635 in Quebec City the College de Québec, eventually known as Université Laval, which would become one of the Group of 13 large research universities in Canada. Other future G-13 members founded during this period, included, Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1818, McGill University in Montreal in 1821, the University of Toronto in 1827, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, in 1841 and the University of Ottawa in 1848. Colonial scientific curricula between 1750 and 1850, included rudimentary studies in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, natural philosophy, natural history and moral philosophy. As the colony grew by the beginning of the 19th century, a number of amateur "scientists", notably in Montreal and Toronto, began to record and study nature as a gentlemanly pursuit and established local learned societies.
Astronomy
Astronomy was one of the first scientific disciplines practiced in the northern North America. There are records of astronomical observations made by Arctic explorers dating from 1612 and by French missionaries in New France who noted eclipses as early as 1618 and 1632. The Marquis de Chabert is reported to have built one of the first observatories in North America at Fort Louisbourg in 1750. A small observatory was built by Joseph DesBarres at Castle Frederick, Nova Scotia, in 1765.Zaslow, Morris, Reading the Rocks: The Story of the Geological Survey of Canada 1842–1972, Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, 1975, pp. 2–259.
Chemistry
Elementary courses in chemistry were introduced into the curriculum of the Seminaires de Québec by Abbot John Holmes in 1830 and Abbot Isaac Desaulniers in Saint-Hyacinthe as well as the Seminaire de Montréal in 1842.Jarrell, Richard, The Cold Light of Dawn: A History of Canadian Astronomy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1988, pp. 29–56
Biology
Interest in biology in Canada dates from the times of European exploration. Botany attracted explorers and scientists such as Cartier 1503, Clusius 1576, C. Bauhin 1623, J. Cornuti 1635, P. Boucher 1664, M. Sarrazin 1697, J.F. Gauthier 1742, A. Michaud, 1785, W.J. Hooker 1820, A.F. Holmes 1821, L. Provencher 1862 and J. Macoun 1883, who collected and/or named various plants found in Canada. Zoology as well was the subject of much early activity. Reports and studies by J. Cabot 1497, N. Denys 1672, C. Perrault and M. Sarrazin 1660, T. Pennent 1784, J. Richardson 1819, P.H. Gosse 1840 and M. Perley 1849, related to the nature of animals found throughout Canada's eastern and northern regions.Warrington, Newbold, Chemical Canada: Past and Present, Chemical Institute of Canada, Ottawa, 1970, p. 131-133. A reflection of this activity is seen in the founding of the Botanical Society of Canada in Kingston, Ontario in 1860 and the Entomological Society of Canada in 1863.
Rise of professional science (1850–1900)
Scientific research in Canada as a formal undertaking dates from the 1850s and was the result of the impetus provided by the establishment of government scientific research organizations, new universities and the evolution of academic disciplines. It was also placed on a professional footing through the institutionalization of the twin concepts of the "scientific method' and "peer review" as seen in the establishment of the Royal Society of Canada in 1883.
Government research organizations
Government organizations specializing in science established during this period included the Geological Survey of Canada (1841), the Dominion Experimental Farms (1886) and the Biological Board (fisheries research).
New universities and changing curricula
Additional future members of the G-13 were founded, including Université de Montréal and the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario in 1878 and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in 1887. University science curricula also changed during this period. Natural philosophy evolved into physics and became closely allied with mathematics. Natural history evolved into geology, biology, zoology and botany.
Canada's first, "national" scientific/learned/professional association, the Canadian Medical Association was created during this period, in Quebec City in October 1867. In 1882 the founding of the Royal Society of Canada reflected the maturation of Canada's intellectual development by becoming the first "national" organization to recognize and promote among other things achievement in science.
Royal Society of Canada and peer review The hallmark on modern science is the emphasis on the concept of peer review, whereby the research of scientists is open to the scrutiny of their peers. This concept is recognized to have originated with the Royal Society of London established in 1645. In 1883, inspired in part by this organization and the Institut de France, the Royal Society of Canada was established by the Governor General, the Marquis of Lorne. Founding members included Sir Sanford Fleming and Sir William Osler. Peer reviewed articles appeared in the Society publication "Proceedings" first produced in 1882.
Disciplines (1850–1900)
Geology Professional science in Canada began with the founding of the Geological Survey of Canada, by the Legislature of the Province of Canada, in 1841. William Logan was appointed the first director in 1842 and after establishing headquarters in Montreal in 1843 began field work searching for coal in the area between Pictou, Nova Scotia, and the Gaspé Peninsula in Canada. His assistant Alexander Perry conducted a similar search in the area between Lakes Huron and Erie. Although no coal was found the surveys demonstrated the importance of systematic study of Canada's land mass. The survey grew during the forties and in 1851 participated in the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, England, as well as the Universal Exposition in Paris, in 1855. The efforts of the survey were so successful that in 1863 it was able to publish its first major work, The Geology of Canada. With Confederation the survey's area of geographic responsibility grew dramatically as did its reputation, being recognized by the government as an important agent in the establishment of a mining industry in Canada. This recognition also resulted in the headquarters being moved to Ottawa in 1881. As Canada grew the survey studied the routes of the new Canadian Pacific Railway as well as other areas of the west and north. Director Dawson surveyed British Columbia and the Yukon; Robert Bell studied the north and the coastal areas of Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait. Geologist Tyrell found coal and fossils in Alberta and J. Mackintosh Bell studied the area from Lake Athabasca to Great Bear Lake in 1900. Sailing aboard the Neptune geologist Low explored the Arctic archipelago in 1903–04.
Physics The first full professorships in physics were established at Dalhousie in Halifax in 1879, Toronto in 1887 and McGill in Montreal in 1890. Although these were mainly teaching positions, there was some research activity. At Dalhousie, Professor J. G. McGregor, the first to hold the position at that university, published about 50 papers during his tenure from 1879 until 1899. Other prominent researchers in the field at this time included H. L. Callendar and E. Rutherford, Macdonald professors of physics at McGill and J. C. McLennan at U of T.
Astronomy The discipline experienced modest growth during this period. New but small observatories were built including: the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory, in 1840, a facility at the Citadel in Quebec City in 1850, one at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton in 1851, in Kingston, Ontario in 1856, in Montreal in 1862 and another in Quebec City on the Plains of Abraham in 1874.
Chemistry