Overview

William Speirs Bruce was a Scottish nationalist and naturalist who led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902–04) as well as participating in or leading many other polar expeditions from 1892 through to 1919, particularly to Spitsbergen. He is now largely forgotten compared with the ‘greats’, Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen. This biography returns to primary sources to provide a new and controversial view of the relationship between Bruce and the then President of the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Clements Markham, and also draws conclusions about Bruce’s personality, in particular suggesting that he was probably on the autistic spectrum. Bruce was ahead of his time in dreaming of a network of cooperating meteorological stations in the south. He handed over the Laurie Island observatory to the Argentinians. He can be considered the Father of Meteorology in the South Atlantic. He had a lasting impact, publishing his work, under great difficulties, in six scientific volumes. His endeavours in the Arctic were notable for the extensive new surveys he undertook. The British Antarctic Survey is an enduring testament to his scientific vision and has named its laboratory in the South Orkney Islands in his honour. Despite being a strong nationalist – or perhaps because he was – his outlook was internationalist. Bruce was never awarded the Polar Medal; this book explains why.

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9781445680811

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'This book reminds us of William Speirs Bruce's outstanding contributions in the Heroic Age of exploration both in science and to British policy for Antarctica. He was in advance of his time in exploring and charting both Polar regions; in the south he focused purely on scientific advance without commercial emphasis, whilst in the north he promoted controlled exploration of its resources whilst combining this with wildlife protection. It is an excellent read!' -- Sir Ranulph Fiennes

`This book reminds us of William Speirs Bruce's outstanding contributions in the Heroic Age of exploration both in science and to British policy for Antarctica. He was in advance of his time in exploring and charting both Polar regions; in the south he focused purely on scientific advance without commercial emphasis, whilst in the north he promoted controlled exploration of its resources whilst combining this with wildlife protection. It is an excellent read!' -- Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Author Information

Isobel P. Williams is a retired Medical Consultant Physician who has gone on to become a widely respected author, cruise speaker and lecturer on polar matters. Her work includes biographies of Edward Wilson and Edgar Evans. She lectures regularly on Shackleton, Wilson Edgar Evans, Bruce, Mawson, also on Antarctic subjects and has published papers on these great men. John Dudeney spent 40 years as a research scientist and then as the Deputy Director of the British Antarctic Survey. He travelled to Antarctica often and and spent two winters there in the late 1960s. In retirement he has become engaged in research on the political history of Antarctica from the 1880s through to the present day. He has published several papers in recent years that have looked at myths that surround the British explorers of the heroic age, with emphasis on Shackleton and Bruce. He lectures widely on Antarctic matters, including annual visits to Antarctic as a historian/guide.

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