Robert Falcon Scott | The South Pole Race and Antarctic Science

Scott vs Amundsen: the race to the South Pole 

In 1910, Scott set sail from Cardiff aboard the newly refitted Terra Nova with a two-fold mission: to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole and to conduct the most ambitious program of scientific research yet attempted in Antarctica. His South Pole Expedition formed part of the broader British Antarctic Expedition 1910–1913. The public, and perhaps Scott himself, were obsessed with reaching the Pole. But unlike his rival, the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, Scott did not come as a pure explorer. He went as a scientist.

The race was gruelling. Cunning and determined, Amundsen skied while utilising dogs for hauling minimal supplies, following a route along the Axel Heiberg Glacier. He had experience from living with Inuit people and highly respected their ways. He used their methods for speed and efficient polar travel. Scott used a mix of motor sledges, ponies, and man-hauling, all ill-suited to the deep cold and terrible icy barricades.  Amundsen reached the Pole on December 14, 1911. Scott and his four men arrived over a month later, on January 17, 1912, only to find Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian flag already there. 

“The worst has happened,” Scott wrote in his journal. Amundsen had beaten them by 34 days.

On the return, the weakened party succumbed one by one. Evans died first, followed by Captain Lawrence Oates, who, suffering from frostbite and gangrene, sacrificed himself by walking into a blizzard on his 32nd birthday, March 17, 1912. “I am just going outside and may be some time,” he told his companions—words that became a symbol of stoicism and selflessness in polar history. 

Science at the heart of the Terra Nova Expedition

The Terra Nova Expedition was the most scientifically ambitious Antarctic mission of the Heroic Age. It included twelve scientists among its fifty-nine members. Scott ensured that every arm of natural science was represented: meteorology, glaciology, geology, marine biology, and zoology. He appointed George Simpson as meteorologist, Edward Wilson as chief scientist and naturalist.

Scott also appointed a professional photographer, Herbert Ponting — the first time an Antarctic expedition had done so — recognizing that images could capture public imagination and secure lasting support for science.

The base at Cape Evans became a laboratory. Simpson’s instruments recorded the weather, Wilson observed the wildlife, and the geologists examined the rocks and ice. For months before and after the journey to the Pole, the scientists conducted fieldwork across the Ross Ice Shelf and along the coast of Victoria Land. Every sledge party hauled not only food but also instruments, notebooks, and collection kits.

Scott wrote: “We are not a ‘dash to the Pole’ expedition.” 

That he never returned alive to defend that truth is unfortunate—but the scientific record speaks for him.

Weather at the edge: the first Polar climate records

The Terra Nova expedition produced the first reliable Antarctic climate records, thanks to meteorologist George Simpson. From Cape Evans, he logged daily temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed, and storm activity with remarkable precision.

He built upon the work of the earlier Discovery Expedition 1901–1904 (Scott’s first expedition) but added rigour, frequency, and scientific method.

Simpson’s data revealed the complexity of Antarctic weather systems: the katabatic winds that poured off the Polar Plateau, the sudden blizzards, the bitter temperature swings. This information became essential for future expeditions and for understanding global weather patterns. In a time before satellites or automatic weather stations, his instruments and discipline formed the cornerstone of Antarctic meteorology.

Today, his logs help researchers track long-term climate change in polar regions—proving the enduring value of meticulous data collection in the harshest of environments.

Edward Wilson: early Antarctic wildlife studies 

Edward Wilson was Scott’s confidant and a treasured member of the expedition. A physician and a passionate naturalist, Wilson made detailed observations of Antarctic wildlife. He wrote about emperor and Adélie penguins, Weddell and leopard seals, skuas, and snow petrels. His sketches captured both anatomy and behaviour. His work represents one of the earliest biological surveys of the continent.

In the winter of 1911, Wilson and two companions undertook a nightmarish journey to Cape Crozier to collect emperor penguin eggs. They believed embryonic development could shed light on evolutionary links between birds and reptiles. The journey was so cold that their sleeping bags froze solid. By the time the specimens reached London, the theory had fallen out of favour — but today embryology strongly confirms that birds evolved from feathered dinosaurs.

One team member, Apsley Cherry-Garrard pronounced their quest for emperor penguin eggs  “the worst journey in the world,” and wrote a book about it.  (See 'The Worst Journey in the World'). His book remains on the list of the top ten polar adventure books. 

Even in failure, the effort reflected the spirit of scientific sacrifice and deep respect for nature. Wilson’s journals and drawings offer a glimpse into an untouched Antarctic ecosystem—before whalers and climate change began reshaping it.

Antarctica captured: the innovation of Herbert Ponting’s photography

Scott was the first expedition leader to formally recruit a professional photographer for Antarctica. Herbert Ponting, unlike earlier amateurs, brought both artistry and technology — including cinema cameras — to transform exploration into a visual story.  Ernest Shackleton, who had travelled with Scott on previous expeditions, used similarly equipped photographer Frank Hurley in his famous Trans-Antarctica expedition of 1914 that ended in defeat but with all men survivors.

Ponting’s photographs are haunting, vivid, human. He captured not just the grandeur of the ice but the faces of the men, the puff of frost from their breath, their weary eyes. Ponting’s stills and film sequences were later shown across Britain and America, bringing Antarctica to the public in a way never before possible.

His work includes the first known footage of penguins and whales, ice caves glowing from within, and portraits of Scott and his men that have become iconic. Herbert Ponting’s photography transformed polar exploration into a visual saga. His images helped turn Scott from a tragic footnote into a cultural hero.