In Race To South Pole, Scott Lost ... Or Did He? The early 20th
century was the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. Teams of
explorers from multiple countries were fighting to be the first
to reach the South Pole. The man who would ultimately get there
first — in December 1911 — was the Norwegian explorer Roald
Amundsen. He went with a small team and a pack of sled dogs. At
the time it was seen as humiliating defeat for Britain and its
team led by Robert Falcon Scott. Britain's Royal Geographic
Society reluctantly invited Amundsen to London to address a
gathering in late 1912 in what was supposed to be a ceremony
honoring his achievement. The head of the society, Lord Curzon,
presided over the event. In his new book An Empire of Ice:
Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science,
Edward Larson gives this account of what happened: "In his
closing remarks following the banquet, Curzon added, 'I almost
wish that in our tribute of admiration, we could include those
wonderful, good-tempered fascinati