Susan Solomon (1) (1956–)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I read for the Reading Globally Polar Regions theme read. It combines the story of the expedition, largely told in the words of the men on it, from diaries of those who survived and those who didn't, with modern scientific data that throws light on the conditions the expedition encountered; it brings the characters of the military men, scientists, and seamen alive; and it does a great job at helping the reader experience the close, dark, dangerous, and above all COLD environment of Antarctica. Solomon addresses the reputation of Scott as a "bumbler" through the use of the men's diaries and modern meteorological and other information, and provides interesting insights into such topics as how well skis work under different temperature and snow conditions, how to get into a frozen sleeping bag, and how to choose ponies for polar conditions, among others.… (mais)

A fascinating but not entirely convincing history of Scott's polar expeditions, and in particular his attempt at the South Pole in 1911-12 which led to the death of all five members of the Polar Party.

Scott has been viewed as everything from a tragic hero to a inexcusably ill-organised bungler. Using modern meteorological evidence, Dr Solomon makes a strong case that the deaths of at least four of these five men were due to factors beyond Scott's control, and in particular the unseasonably cold weather (even by Antarctic standards) that his party encountered during the final stages of their return in March 2009. Yet she raises enough examples of Scott's impulsiveness and his tendency to operate at or over the margin of safety to suggest that this gallant but inexperienced leader's flaws played a major part in his and his companions' fate.

Despite these reservations, this book is well worth reading if you are interested in polar science or exploration, or in the thin line that divides success from failure when operating in extreme conditions.… (mais)

I guess I'm not finished with Captain Scott's famous expedition to the South Pole. When Susan Solomon, the discovered of the Antarctic ozone hole, came to speak at a climate change conference at a local high school, I learned she had written a book about the Scott expedition. This is an account of that expedition, pieced together from the journals and memoirs of the people who went on the journey, and interrupted occasionally by her own experiences (one presumes, although the “visitor” is always described in masculine pronouns, which annoys me no end) in the Antarctic. What is different about this book is the ability to look back on events from the perspective of a 20 year history of accurate temperature records and see just how unusual the cold temperatures were that Scott and his companions suffered on the return journey. Undoubtedly, it was these extremely low temperatures, and the frostbite they engendered, that caused the five polar explorers to lose their lives. And unusual conclusion from the book is that Wilson and Bowers might have been able to complete the journey, or at the very least get to the next food depot, just 11 miles away, where they could conceivably have found help, but that they refused to leave Scott, whose right foot was so damaged by frostbite that he could no longer walk.… (mais)