National Geographic Society was founded in 1888 by explorers and scientists at DC's Cosmos Club with the backing of wealthy patrons as "a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge." Expanses of unmapped lands sprawled across the continents. The Society financed innumerable treks to Alaska, the Arctic, Antarctica, the steppes of Tibet, the Indonesian archipelago, and ruined cities deep in the heart of terra incognita.
In January 1905 the National Geographic's debut publication featuring photos of the society's team accompanying the British Punitive invasion over the Himalayas to Lhasa.
Ghost forts ravaged by weather and war guarded the desolate plateau.
The Empire's soldiers and explorers were astounded by the majesty of the Potala Palace.
National Geographic was an instant sensation opening the world to armchair travelers for over a hundred years, however in the 1990s the old yellow-rimmed magazine was forced to answer the education shortcomings of its reading public. My cousin's husband was managing editor in 1991 and after a protest in Washington DC against the Iraq War I joined my father, Oliver, and his two young girls to watch Intercollegiate Rugby Championships. After the Wyoming win Oliver complained about the prolific swearing by both teams and their coaching staff. I said nothing, while he wrote a scathing letter to both university about the cursing.
Later at dinner I asked about the subpar writing in the National Geographic and Oliver said, "People aren't as well educated as we were. They read at an 8th Grade level, if they read at all, so we had to dumb down the magazine."
I never considered myself well-educated, but viewed the dumbing down the National Geographic as a rebuttal against the Theory of Evolution.
There is no bottom to ignorance and in 2018 the magazine featured cover story was THE ATLAS OF THE BIBLE.
The history of the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Koran.
The site of the first circumcision, the birthplace of Jesus, and Mohammad rising from the Temple Mount to travel to Jannah or Heaven.
Neither is their any mention of Robert E. Peary's Inuit family.
My grandfather was polar explorer's doctor in Westbrook, Maine long after his fellow Bowdoin alumni had 'discovered' the North Pole. National Geographic honored Robert E. Peary as the White Man's Hero, even though Matthew Henson, his accompanying Afro-American explorer, actually reached Ultima Thule.
As an Atheist I wish that the Lands of the Bible were once more Terra Incognita.
A land lost to time.
ps - My cousin's husband received no letters from Wyoming U or the bother team, but I wrote him a fake response from a fake Dean of Sports apologizing for the graphic language. Oliver was so proud of that accomplishment, I had not the heart to tell him the truth, then again I only explore the soul.
Ganden Monestery 1995
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