"These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale." So penned Captain Robert Falcon Scott in 1912 as he confronted defeat and death in the crippling subzero temperatures of Antarctica. In this riveting book, Susan Solomon finishes the interrupted tale of Scott and his British expedition, depicting the staggering 900-mile trek to the South Pole and resolving the debate over the journey's failure.
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"An absorbing, fascinating read ... a book that will appeal to the explorer in everyone." -- Sally Ride
"Brilliant ... A marvelous and complex book: at once a detective story, a brilliant vindication of a maligned man, and an elegy both for Scott and his men and for the ‘crystalline continent’ on which they died." -- Robert MacFarlane, Guardian
"Persuasive ... Solomon reaches important new conclusions about Scott’s expedition." -- Sara Wheeler, New York Times Book Review
"Solomon argues her case well, in exact and graceful prose." -- Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World
"Solomon has crafted a smart, terrific book and an important addition to polar history." -- Roberta MacInnis, Houston Chronicle
"Brilliant ... A marvelous and complex book: at once a detective story, a brilliant vindication of a maligned man, and an elegy both for Scott and his men and for the ‘crystalline continent’ on which they died." -- Robert MacFarlane, Guardian
"Persuasive ... Solomon reaches important new conclusions about Scott’s expedition." -- Sara Wheeler, New York Times Book Review
"Solomon argues her case well, in exact and graceful prose." -- Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World
"Solomon has crafted a smart, terrific book and an important addition to polar history." -- Roberta MacInnis, Houston Chronicle
About the Author
Susan Solomon is senior scientist at the Aeronomy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado. An acknowledged world leader in ozone depletion research, she led the National Ozone Expedition and was honoured with the U.S. National Medal of Science in 1999. Among her many other distinctions is an Antarctic glacier named in her honour.
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The wood has been sanded to a smooth finish by the relentless blizzards that have pounded against the hut for nearly a century. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The wood has been sanded to a smooth finish by the relentless blizzards that have pounded against the hut for nearly a century. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Miseri57
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Given that Soloman's Scott account is from a Scientist's perspective I thought I was going to be in for a hard read. I couldn't have been more wrong. Well written and well researched, Soloman smoothly guides the reader over the scientific complexities with a style not unlike a detective novel - in itself a mark of distinction.
However, to say that this is a vindication of Captain Scott's fatal expedition is, at the very least, an enthusiastic overstatement promulgated, I suspect, by Scott devotees desperate to reincarnate the misguided glory bestowed on him for the first decade or so after his and his men's deaths.
Nevertheless, as a scientific explanation, Solomon offers the reader a completely new and refreshing breakaway from the Victorian and Edwardian commentaries that have hitherto stacked the `Antarctic Expedition' book shelves.
Refreshing, informative, probing and, not least, a damn good read.
However, to say that this is a vindication of Captain Scott's fatal expedition is, at the very least, an enthusiastic overstatement promulgated, I suspect, by Scott devotees desperate to reincarnate the misguided glory bestowed on him for the first decade or so after his and his men's deaths.
Nevertheless, as a scientific explanation, Solomon offers the reader a completely new and refreshing breakaway from the Victorian and Edwardian commentaries that have hitherto stacked the `Antarctic Expedition' book shelves.
Refreshing, informative, probing and, not least, a damn good read.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
For those hooked on the late Victorian explorers and their feats of derring-do, Susan Solomon's book is a very readable update of the Scott saga.
Ms Solomon takes us through the tragedy stage by stage but with an empathy attributable to one who has spent some time in the Antarctic. The well known blunders (tractors falling through the ice, inexperienced men (and ponies) stranded on ice floes) are detailed but not laboured into an anti-Scott polemic.
Where this book really comes into its own is in its discussion of the last weeks on the Ross ice shelf and indeed on the last 9 days of stormbound gotterdamerung. Ms Solomon is a meteorologist and has had a good look again at the reports of the expedition meteorologist, George Simpson. Despite the somewhat misleading blurb, although extreme cold was a probable factor in the fatal decline of party this was not unforeseen by Scott. Various medical factors are also investigated and theories of relapse due to scurvy are laid to rest. Ms Solomon gives good evidence that the final storm, which is the assumed cause of demise, could never have been of 9 days' duration and probably lasted no more than 4 days (intriguingly the figure crossed out in Scott's final letter).
So what did happen in those final nine days? As the author implies the reasons for the denouement, at least in the case of Bowers and Wilson, probably lie in the realms of psychology rather than physiology. They both probably could have made it to the One Ton Depot and survived, but to have left Scott, in the way modern climbers abandon their dead as encumbrances to personal survival, was to men of their time unthinkable.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is an excellent book, the research that has gone into it puts most modern writing, with its 'skim the surface' approach to analysis and understanding, to shame. Solomon uses her scientific expertise to delve into Scott's last expedition, a subject that obviously became very close to her heart too. The only questions I had after reading this book were what really happened to Bowers and Wilson; questions that can never be answered. Please don't miss this book if you are in any way interested in the Antarctic. The hard back edition is also beautifully presented.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Coldest and boldest March
I found this to be a superb book, written by a gifted scientist, yet in a style which was absorbing and eminently readable by those of us with few scientific pretensions. Read more
Published 7 months ago by John Brain
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hits the reset button on Scott debunking
The great pleasure of this book is that Susan Solomon goes back the scientific method to discover that what Scott and his team wrote in their diaries and records was a true account... Read more
Published 16 months ago by A. Tyger
1.0 out of 5 stars
The British were divorced from her ( the weather)
Scott's bumbling amateur style reflected Victorian sentimentalities and Empire hubris. His command relied on hierarchy and rank, not the efficiency of function, and he staunchly... Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2007 by jakon
4.0 out of 5 stars
An unforgiving land
Primarily a scientific investigation and a good one at that, with the human interest aspect secondary but significant. Solomon is very informative. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2007 by calmly
4.0 out of 5 stars
balanced appraisal of Scott
Over the years we have had various books which have either castigated or lauded Scott. Here is one at last which gives a fair and frank review of his strengths and failings. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2007 by Dr. D. Fraser
1.0 out of 5 stars
Coldest March of Baroque Science
`The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition' by Susan Salomon was published in 2003. It received, as usual every book published, enthusiastic reviews. Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2006 by Kris
5.0 out of 5 stars
Science demolishing prejudice
I really enjoyed this book, and re-evaluated my opinion of Captain Scott. I enjoyed the short passages describing the experiences of a fictional antarctic traveller, which set the... Read more
Published on 12 Oct 2005 by D. Langley
3.0 out of 5 stars
OK, but not overly convinced
As someone who has read several books on the early polar explorers, I found this an interesting but ultimately less than inspiring read. Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2003 by R. Weir
5.0 out of 5 stars
Try this book - it'll hook you!
I bought this book because of the reviews I saw on this page. I wasn't sure about it because they all seemed to underline the science aspect, and a scientific outlook is the last... Read more
Published on 2 April 2002 by alexpalgrave@supanet.com
5.0 out of 5 stars
SUPERBLY WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED VINDICATION OF SCOTT
For anyone interested in the story of Antarctic exploration in the early years of the 20th century, this book is indispensable. From start to finish, I found it hard to put down. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2002 by APOLLONAUT
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