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Thor Heyerdahl

He crossed the Pacific on a balsa raft and became one of the most famous adventurers of the 20th century. This Hypography is a tribute to a Norwegian hero.

Posted by Tormod Guldvog
22 April, 2002 05:04:28

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His ideas may have been controversial, and many modern anthropologists discard his views as pure romanticism. But Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) had an incredible love for adventure, a love which made him a celebrated person around the world.

Explorations around the world

He explored the giant statues on Easter Island. He captained the Kon-Tiki raft across the Pacific. The movie he made from this journey won him an Oscar - the only Academy Award Norway has ever won.

He built and sailed with Ra, a ship made of reeds, from Africa to South America. When it sank before it completed the journey, he built Ra II - and the second time he got it right.

He investigated the mysteries of pyramids in South America and on the East Coast of Africa, and believed that there was strong evidence of genetic links between the two continents. He maintained that this proved that ancient peoples must have been able to travel between the continents by sea - a theory which sadly lacks proof in modern archeology.

Scientist, adventurer, explorer
But Heyerdahl's legacy is not so much his science, as his stubborn and never-ending urge to explore the unknown, something he kept doing until his death.

As a young boy I remember reading his books, wondering about how one man could possibly know and learn so much. Thor Heyerdahl was a great man, and the Earth is a lesser place after his death.

In Cosmos, Carl Sagan has a chapter named "Who speaks for the Earth", metaphorically asking whom we should choose as our ambassador in case we should ever be visited by aliens inquiring about how we take care of our planet.

Surely, Thor Heyerdahl would have been a likely candidate.

May his spirit continue to inspire all of humanity in our search for our origins, and the understanding of ourselves.

Want to learn more about Thor Heyerdahl?
Here you can find books and movies by and about Thor Heyerdahl at Amazon.com.

Image credit: FERCO Mission Home Page

Related Links

Thor Heyerdahl Bibliography
http://www.plu.edu/~ryandp/thor.html
This is, well, a bibliography of Thor Heyerdahl's papers, books, movies, awards, and honors.

Heyerdahl: Morals, Not Money Will Save The Planet
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/mar2000/2000L-03-13-02.html
This brief article says a lot about Thor Heyerdahl as a scientist. He talks about the importance of understanding our relationship with nature.

The Ra Expeditions Revisitied
http://www.plu.edu/~ryandp/RAX.html
An in-depth article about the Ra (and the Tigris) expeditions of Thor Heyerdahl, written by Donald P. Ryan.

Thor Heyerdahl
http://www.plu.edu/~ryandp/XTH.html
An article about Thor Heyerdahl, the explorer, adventurer - and most of all, the scientist.

Kon-Tiki Man To The End
http://europe.cnn.com/2002/TRAVEL/NEWS/04/18/heyerdahl.retro.ap/index.html
A wonderful article about Thor Heyerdahl in CNN Interactive, outlining his work and life.

Thor Heyerdahl Obituary
http://www.ferco.org/thor_heyerdahl.html
The FERCO mission was started by Thor Heyerdahl to support Heyerdahl's theories about archeology and culture. This page is an obituary written by FERCO's management.

Sea Routes To Polynesia
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/thor/
This page contains extracts from Thor Heyerdahl's lectures about sea routes to Polynesia, presented to the Bradshaw Foundation.

The Stone Statues of Easter Island
http://www.sids.com/mysteries/
This is a great web site about the mysterious statues on Easter Island. The site also contains a complete version of Heyerdahl's paper on The "Walking" Moai of Easter Island.

Thor Heyerdahl International Maritime Environmental Award
http://www.heyerdahlaward.com/
This is a fairly new award which was established by Heyerdahl and the Norwegian Shipowners' Association to promote the protection of the oceans and increase awareness of pollution from transport in the shipping industry.

The Kon-Tiki Museum
http://www.kon-tiki.no/
This is the web site of the Kon-Tiki museum, located in Oslo, Norway. This is where the original Kon-Tiki raft is displayed.

Scandinavian Ancestry
http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/82_folder/82_articles/82_heyerdahl.html
This illustrated article by Thor Heyerdahl appeared in Azerbaijan International (8.2) Summer 2000, and represents some of the last (and vey controversial) research Heyerdahl performed.