Gentleman Agitator

NPR's Climate Connections: My Response to a Listener's Comment

    Below is my response to a listener of NPR’s "Morning Edition Sunday" program. It is in reference to my previous post about the "Climate Connections" story about Robert Falcon Scott. This was written to NPR:

    I must comment to a listener’s comment on your story about Robert Falcon Scott, the Antarctic explorer, on your March 30th program. The host claimed that there were many comments about the story and I was certainly surprised by the one you used. Valerie Spain’s comments really had nothing to do with the story itself. Spain wanted to make the statement that Scott’s actions in the quest for the South Pole were based purely on arrogance and stupidity.
    I did not interpret Daniel Zwerdling’s “Climate Connections” story to be about judging Scott’s final expedition against Amundsen’s. The story was not about how the British government and press exploited Scott’s death. It was about both of Scott’s expeditions as pioneering attempts to conduct research in Antarctica. The second expedition was the attempt for pole and conducting further research in 1911.
    Roald Amundsen should be commended for the expedition he carried out. It was done with efficiency and economy. He chose to use dogs to haul his sledges all the way to the pole for instance; Scott did not.  Amundsen, the native Norwegian, had the insight for instance to live with Inuits (Eskimos) and learn the ways of extreme cold survival from them. One needs to be honest though that Amundsen was only after the pole. He had no intent of conducting scientific research.
    I felt that Daniel Zwerdling’s story was more about how research and living in Antarctica had changed in the century since Scott’s time. Perhaps the book, The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford had jaundiced Valerie Spain. Huntford had it out to tear down Scott’s heroic legacy in little bits and pieces. It was a very good book in many ways in laying out all the events between the two expeditions and some about other polar explorers such as  Nansen, Peary and Cook. However, Huntford’s poisoned pen laces the work with character assassination of Scott. Other books since then have had a more balanced approach. One of my favorites is The Coldest March, by senior NOAA researcher Susan Solomon. Her book looks at how the climatic conditions on the march back for Scott’s men were out of the norm, even for Antarctica. While taking into account Scott’s abilities, she uses real science and concludes that no matter the quality of preparation with the given resources of that era would have prevented their final fate.
    I would urge Valerie Spain and others interested in the subject to read The Coldest March and other works on the subject for a more balanced view.

NPR: Climate Connections: Robert Falcon Scott

Last Sunday, NPR (National Pubic Radio) ran a report in the continuing series entitled Climate Connections in conjunction with the National Geographic Society. These reports look at how we are shaping climate and how it is shaping us.

In one of a number of stories on my favorite continent Antarctica, they feature a story on Robert Falcon Scott, the early 20th century, British explorer. Scott led two expeditions to the continent. The first was purely a research endeavor in 1901. The second had the goal of sending a team to be the first humans at the South Pole and included more scientific research.

Scott has been a hero of mine since I was a teen. You will learn more about my feelings about him in a future installment of Pillars of My Principles. Scott is definitely one of the pillars of my principles. Until then, you can read my letter to NPR. Give a listen to the report. Learn more about what has been called “the last place on Earth.” Antarctica, my beautiful continent, is changing, and it is not for the better. We need to learn as much as we can about Antarctica, for this place is a barometer of the whole planet’s condition.

My letter to NPR:

"Thank you for your story on Robert Falcon Scott, the Antarctic explorer. Scott has been a hero of mine for many years.

I was even given the honor of attending the one-hundredth anniversary re-launching ceremony of Scott’s first ship, the “Discovery” in 2001. The ship lies permanently berthed where she was built in Dundee, Scotland. It is a must see for any followers of the Scott’s expeditions or polar exploration.

Scott’s story has been much maligned in the last twenty-five years and I thought you gave a good overview of his work in the time you had on the air.  Yes, Scott was working for the advancing the glory of the British Empire, but he was also, unlike some of his contemporary explorers, all for advancing human knowledge of the last unknown continent. And for that, he should be commended."