In the race to the South Pole, explorer Robert F. Scott refused to sacrifice his ambitious science agenda By Edward J. Larson | Friday, May 27, 2011 | 2 Permanent Address: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=greater-glory SIDE TRIP: One of Scott’s 32 expedition members sleds past a massive ice structure named Castle Berg, off the shore of Ross Island, Antarctica. Image: Corbis The history books say that Roald Amundsen beat Robert F. Scott in a race to the South Pole in 1911. Less widely known is that Scott had big scientific ambitions for his trip, which he largely fulfilled. Scott’s team made several side trips to search for fossils and other scientific evidence, despite com­petition from Amundsen. One of…

Simon Mann June 25, 2011 – 12:14AM GETTYSBURG is not where you expect to find Adolf Hitler’s monogrammed, silver grooming set – brush, comb and hand-held mirror. Nor Eva Braun’s chemise. Nor, for that matter, a shrine to John F. Kennedy that includes a cane rocking chair, made to order for a commander-in-chief with a crook back. But there they are on display in the little Museum of History on Baltimore Street, along with thousands of Civil War artefacts – weapons, shrapnel, bullets, uniforms and manuscripts, even Abraham Lincoln’s wallet – that provide a reassuring geographical reference. The eclectic hoard evolved from proprietor Erik Dorr’s early fascination with history. At…