Scott Centenary 2011–2012

To Strive, To Seek, To Find. and Not to Yield

This quote, from Lord Tennyson’s poem ‘Ulysses’, is engraved on a 9ft cross standing on the summit of Observation Hill, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The cross is in memory of Captain Robert Falcon Scott Royal Navy, and his four companions who died on their return from the South Pole in March 1912.

January 2012 will see the 100th Anniversary of Scott’s heroic efforts to reach the South Pole. Having attained the South Pole through a combination of incredible fortitude and immense physical effort, Scott and his party of four (Dr Edward Wilson, Lt Henry Bowers R.I.M, Capt Lawrence Oates Inniskilling Dragoons and Petty Officer Edgar Evans Royal Navy) were to find that they had reached their destination behind a Norwegian party led by Roald Amundsen. Undeterred they remained committed to their science projects and during their return journey of some 810miles they collected rock samples which were to confirm that the Southern continents were once been joined as a super continent, thereby confirming the theory of Plate-Tectonics. Furthermore, these specimens also provided evidence for climate change. Undertaking this scientific exploration came at a price though as the 35lbs of rock samples had to be man hauled across the frozen wastes of the Antarctic. Exceptionally bad weather hindered their progress and ultimately led to the team’s tragic demise just 11 miles from safety. When Scott and the remaining members of his team were found frozen in their tent, the rock-samples which they had collected were found at the camp. Despite the hardships they had endured, and in the face of certain death, they had refused to abandon their scientific collections such was Scott’s dedication to his science and the advancement of human exploration and knowledge. Scott and his team had already conducted very significant research and scientific exploration prior to departing for the Pole. Surveying this research shortly before leaving for the Pole and recognizing by then that Amundsen was likely to beat him there, Scott wrote, “It is really a satisfactory state of affairs all around. If the [polar] journey comes off, nothing, not even priority at the Pole, can prevent the Expedition ranking as one of the most important that ever entered the Polar regions.” History and science made it so.

British Antarctic Survey are linked to a number of events and news stories celebrating the 100 year anniversary of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s journey to the South Pole in 1911/12. Scott and his men perished on the infamous return to their camp at Hut Point. His remarkable journey involved pioneering scientific research, some of which is still valuable today and forms a benchmark for modern science.