Bradford Washburn

Bradford Washburn (1910 to 2007) was an American explorer, mountaineer, photographer and cartographer, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He established the Boston Museum of Science, directing it from 1939 to 1980 and serving as its Honorary Director from 1985 until his death. One of the leading American mountaineers from the 1920s through the 1950s, he put up first ascents and new routes on many Alaskan peaks, often with his wife Barbara, the first woman to summit Denali; they made the first ascent of Mount Bertha on their 1940 honeymoon. He pioneered aerial photography for analysing mountains and planning expeditions, and created maps of ranges including Denali, Mount Everest and the Presidential Range, with the Everest work done in his 70s and 80s.