Édouard-Alfred Martel Édouard-Alfred Martel Édouard-Alfred Martel (1 July 1859, Pontoise, Val-d'Oise – 3 June 1938, Montbrison), the 'father of modern speleology', was a world pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation. Martel explored thousands of caves in his native France and many other countries, popularised the pursuit of cave exploration, introduced the concept of speleology as a distinct area of scientific study, maintained an extensive archive, and in 1895 founded , the first organisation devoted to cave science in the world. Édouard-Alfred Martel was born in Pontoise, Seine-et-Oise on 1 July 1859. Born into a family of lawyers, he studied at the
International Journal of Speleology International Journal of Speleology The International Journal of Speleology is since 1978 the official peer-reviewed scientific journal of the "Union Internationale de Spéléologie". Since 1981 it has been published by the Società Speleologica Italiana. The "International Journal of Speleology" is divided into four sections: Botany-Microbiology, Zoology, Geology-Geomorphology, and Abstract-News. The first issue was edited by G. Claus (US), subsequently two other editors were added: R. Husson (France) and G Nicholas (USA). The first two volumes were published by the J. Kramer Verlag (Germany), followed by Swets & Zeitlinger N.V. (The Netherlands). In 1972 R. Husson became editor in chief and