Robert Scott
Public domain image from Wikipedia

Robert Scott

Robert Falcon Scott was an Antarctic explorer, who came in second in a famous "South Pole Race" with Roald Amundsen. Unfortunately, he died while returning from the pole. Scott became a tragic hero of the age of Antarctic exploration.

Robert Scott was born in 1868 in England. He left home at the age of 13 to join the Royal Navy and begin his training. From 1901-1904, Scott commanded the National Antarctic Expedition in which Ernest Shackleton also took part.

In 1910, Scott embarked on his second polar expedition. Soon he found out that Roald Amundsen was also heading for South Pole. The expedition spent a year preparing to reach the pole and making scientific observations. Finally, Scott with four other men reached the South Pole in January 1912, where they discovered that Amundsen has been there a month earlier. On their way back, they suffered from unusually cold weather, frostbite and lack of supplies. Finally, on March 29, Scott made the last entry in his diary: "We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course and the end cannot be far.It seems a pity, but I do not think that I can write more. R. Scott. For God's sake look after our people". The tent with bodies of Robert Scott and two of his companions was found eight month later by a search party.

When the news of their tragic death reached Britain, Scott and his companions became national heroes. The race between Scott and Amundsen became a subject of many books and films, and the discussion about reasons for Scott's failure still continues.

Last modified April 29, 2008 by Becca Hatheway.

You might also be interested in:

Ready, Set, SCIENCE!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms

What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, school administrators need to know to create and support such experiences?...more

Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen was a polar explorer who is famous for leading the first successful trip to the South Pole in 1910-1912. Amundsen was born in 1872 in Borge, Norway. His parents wanted him to study medicine,...more

Ernest Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton was one of the famous explorers in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. He was born in Ireland on February 15, 1874. He dropped out of college to go to sea against the wishes of his...more

Florence Bascom

Florence Bascom was one of the first female geologists in the United States and her fellow scientists thought she was one of the nation’s most important geologists. She lived from 1862 until 1945 and...more

Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who lived between 1885-1962. He investigated atomic structure, modifying Rutherford's old model of an atom. Bohr also claimed that an atom's chemical properties are determined...more

Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist who lived between 1867-1934. She contributed greatly to our understanding of radioactivity and the effects of x-rays. She was born Maria Skłodowska in Warsaw,...more

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German physicist who lived between 1879-1955. Probably the most well-known scientist of the twentieth century, Einstein came up with many original theories and invented modern physics....more

Robert Goddard

Robert Goddard was an American physicist who lived between 1882-1945. He was a pioneer of modern rocketry who discovered that liquid fuel is more efficient than solid fuel. Although Goddard's first rocket...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA