For a limited time, "Greater Glory: Why Scott Let Amundsen Win the Race to the Pole", a feature from the June issue of Scientific American is being made available for fans of Scientific American's page on Facebook. Read it now or become a fan.
Robert Falcon Scott kept detailed notes about his expedition to the South Pole, beginning with preparations in New Zealand in late 1910 and ending with the last entry, written shortly before he died in an attempt to return from the pole to safety. All five men who trekked to the pole perished on that return trip—first Edward R.G.R. Evans, then Lawrence E. G. Oates, and then, it seems, Edward A. Wilson and Henry R. Bowers, followed by Scott.
Listen here to a recording mentioning research the men conducted after leaving the pole, on their descent from Beardmore Glacier, and to Scott's final musings and letters.
The recordings bring Scott's writings to life. They come from Lawrence Huxley's The Journals of Robert Falcon Scott, Volume 1, published by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1913.
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