The Coldest March of Robert Falcon Scott

A lecture on                ‘The Coldest March of Robert Falcon Scott’

 Tuesday 7 June 2011

6.30pm, Wallace Lecture Theatre, Cardiff University

Speaker: Professor Susan Solomon ForMemRS, US National Medal of Science Laureate,  (University of Colorado at Boulder and Senior Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA)  

This lecture is sponsored by the Society as part of its Anniversaries series, as one of the Scott Lecture Series organised by the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences at Cardiff University, to celebrate the centenary of Captain Scott’s expedition to the South Pole.   

Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s tragic 1911-12 South Pole expedition has long been an Antarctic legend, viewed by some as a saga of heroism and by others as a cautionary tale of human folly.  The experiences of the speaker in probing the spectacular ozone hole that now forms in Antarctica led to an interest in using science to better understand the experiences of some of the first men who explored the continent a century ago. 

It will be shown that Robert Falcon Scott and his companions were struck down on their return journey from the Pole by weather conditions that can be shown to be highly unusual. Drawing on the most up-to-date science along with her published book, The Coldest March, Professor Solomon will analyse both fact and myth about the expedition, and offer new insights into the lives and deaths of Scott and his heroic companions. 

 

For a flyer for this event, click here.