Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole 100 years ago today. Sadly, I'm still a degree and a half away.
Today is the 100th anniversary of Anundsen's arrival at the south pole, and NPR marked the occasion by interviewing Fecility Alston, who hasn't quite reached the pole herself. Hearing this interview conducted by cell phone and reading Felicity's Twitter stream provided a vivid contrast to the event as reported yesterday by the New York Times. Scott was in thrall to the ideas of gentlemanliness and sportmanship, and he wouldn't use sled dogs on his trip. What would he have made of cell phones and Twitter? ( For the record, I don't think they make Felicity's achievement less significant.)