science tumbled

A hundred years ago this year, humans stepped on the South Pole. There had been attempts before, but the stage was set for a final race for the pole when teams led by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and by the Englishman Robert Falcon Scott reached the Antarctic almost at the same time—Scott on January 4, 1911, Amundsen on January 14. Amundsen had intended to go to the North Pole, but when word reached him that someone else got there first, he turned his nose south—although he was officially going north. Scott, meanwhile, made no secret of his plans to attain the South Pole. He had previously participated in the Discovery expedition, which had gone farther south than anyone had gone before, but hadn’t made any serious attempts at reaching the pole. The two teams started from different points, as seen at the top. Amundsen’s base camp was a little closer to the pole, and his team reached the pole point first—members of his team at the pole are seen below the map. Amundsen reached the southernmost point on our planet December 14, 1911. Scott’s expedition ended in disaster. Although he and his four companions managed to drag themselves to the pole, reaching the point roughly a month after Amundsen, they were already in deep trouble. Scott’s diary is online, and the entry for January 17, 1912 reads in part:The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected. (…) Great God! this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority. (…) Now for the run home and a desparate struggle. I wonder if we can do it. They couldn’t. All five team members died on the way back, exhausted, cold and starving. There are many hypotheses regarding the reasons for Scott’s failure and Amundsen’s success. Scott’s food wasn’t nutritious enough; Amundsen took dogs the whole way to the pole, and knew how to drive them, while Scott did not and didn’t take dogs the whole way; Amundsen marked the route better and had more frequent depots. And his team were more experienced skiers. Scott decided at the last minute to take five men, rather than the planned four, all the way to the pole. Scott was unlucky and got caught in bad weather on the way back. Whatever the reason, there seems to be a consensus that Scott, in the end, wasn’t up to the task; his expedition’s failure can’t be blamed on pure bad luck. Both men, and their companions, are heroes of Antarctic exploration. A hundred years ago, ten men stepped on the South Pole, at a time when there were still places left for men and women to go. The North Pole had been reached just a couple years prior. No one had been at the top of Mount Everest. The Moon wasn’t even a dream yet. Both teams tried to do something no one else had done, and insofar as their goal was to reach the Pole, both teams succeeded. The attempts at reaching the poles were as much about egos and pride—national, personal—as they were about science. It was a different time.

A hundred years ago this year, humans stepped on the South Pole. There had been attempts before, but the stage was set for a final race for the pole when teams led by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and by the Englishman Robert Falcon Scott reached the Antarctic almost at the same time—Scott on January 4, 1911, Amundsen on January 14. Amundsen had intended to go to the North Pole, but when word reached him that someone else got there first, he turned his nose south—although he was officially going north. Scott, meanwhile, made no secret of his plans to attain the South Pole. He had previously participated in the Discovery expedition, which had gone farther south than anyone had gone before, but hadn’t made any serious attempts at reaching the pole.

The two teams started from different points, as seen at the top. Amundsen’s base camp was a little closer to the pole, and his team reached the pole point first—members of his team at the pole are seen below the map. Amundsen reached the southernmost point on our planet December 14, 1911. Scott’s expedition ended in disaster. Although he and his four companions managed to drag themselves to the pole, reaching the point roughly a month after Amundsen, they were already in deep trouble. Scott’s diary is online, and the entry for January 17, 1912 reads in part:

The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected. (…) Great God! this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority. (…) Now for the run home and a desparate struggle. I wonder if we can do it.

They couldn’t. All five team members died on the way back, exhausted, cold and starving. There are many hypotheses regarding the reasons for Scott’s failure and Amundsen’s success. Scott’s food wasn’t nutritious enough; Amundsen took dogs the whole way to the pole, and knew how to drive them, while Scott did not and didn’t take dogs the whole way; Amundsen marked the route better and had more frequent depots. And his team were more experienced skiers. Scott decided at the last minute to take five men, rather than the planned four, all the way to the pole. Scott was unlucky and got caught in bad weather on the way back. Whatever the reason, there seems to be a consensus that Scott, in the end, wasn’t up to the task; his expedition’s failure can’t be blamed on pure bad luck.

Both men, and their companions, are heroes of Antarctic exploration. A hundred years ago, ten men stepped on the South Pole, at a time when there were still places left for men and women to go. The North Pole had been reached just a couple years prior. No one had been at the top of Mount Everest. The Moon wasn’t even a dream yet. Both teams tried to do something no one else had done, and insofar as their goal was to reach the Pole, both teams succeeded. The attempts at reaching the poles were as much about egos and pride—national, personal—as they were about science. It was a different time.

dailymeh posted this on August 6, 2011