Thursday June 5th at 7:00 PM

Cheaters Sometimes Prosper: Aristotle Onassis, Alexei Solyanik, and other Scoundrels of Modern Whaling

Early in the 20th century, scientists and bureaucrats were already worried that whaling was unsustainable, yet after decades of effort to regulate whaling they were never able to create a sustainable system. UNH Professor Kurk Dorsey will discuss the role of cheaters in undermining the rules established in the middle of the century to make modern whaling rational, focusing on notorious capitalist Aristotle Onassis and less well known Communist whaler Alexei Solyanik.  The lecture draws on his new book "Whales and Nations: Environmental Diplomacy on the High Seas," which recently won the John Lyman award from the North American Society for Oceanic History for the best book in the area of science and technology. Kurk Dorsey, a native of Cincinnati, received his PhD in History from Yale University in 1994. He has taught at UNH since then. He lives in Durham with his wife, Professor Molly Dorsey, and their two sons. Free and open to all.