jnrynlds (nprofile…y5v6)
** The text is translated from my native language. Skip this note if you have no interest in polar explorers.
31.03.2023
"Read Shackleton yesterday long into the night, couldn't put it down. So I overslept this morning — Alexander, the ward physician, called me and I got to the hospital at 9:00, an hour too late. Interesting patients today on the Red team, lots to do.
Shackleton went on the Discovery expedition in 1902. Scott, Wilson and Shackleton set off in a push toward the South Pole with provisions for 70 days; there were 2 supply depots on the return route, depot B and A. They took sled dogs with them but in the end had to pull the sleds themselves (~280kg), so the dogs had to be put down, to their great sorrow.
On this attempt they got as far as they could and as provisions allowed (82°S 17'). Shackleton [inlet] was named on this trip, but Shackleton had become so exhausted and badly afflicted with scurvy that in the end Scott and Wilson had to pull him on the sledges. Fortunately on the return route they found the depots with life-saving provisions, which were marked with black flags — Scott's packing — but all three had developed terrible snow blindness. Vitamin C deficiency syndrome (i.e. scurvy) was known as some kind of nutritional deficiency in those days, but vitamin C which as such was not discovered until 1930 by the Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi. People nevertheless knew from experience that fresh seal meat could cure this ailment, and Shackleton recovered after the companions got back to the ship and received better food there.
Scott was very worried about Shackleton's health and sent him home with a ship that came with supplies from New Zealand. Shackleton was forever unhappy about this, and from then on he and Scott became hardened rivals in these polar expeditions.
Shackleton married upon coming home to England — Emily, whom he loved — and set out with a new expedition to the South Pole, but this time as leader.
Further than this I have not gotten in the book, but it is a wonderful story."
Browsing through Sovereign Engineering (nprofile…ax6s) webpage which makes reference to Earnest Shackleton and the Endurance mission.
Consider my mind blown.
Do that and you have a brother for life in this guy. Let’s go.
I read Alfred Lansing’s book about the Endurance mission for the 5th time to kick off 2026. It’s an amazing story of adventure and expression of the human will to survive and one of the greatest survival and leadership stories ever.
-28 men stranded in Antarctica as their ship was crushed in the ice flows
-No communication with the outside world
-3 life boats, some guns, some rations, tents, reindeer skin sleeping bags and a group of (mostly) cheerful chaps.
I’ll do my best to not spoil it.
Shackleton’s family motto = Fortitudine vincimus, which is Latin for “Through endurance we conquer.”
A favourite quote from the book talking about how the situation they were put in allowed Shackleton to express his true genius:
“Thus, while Shackleton was undeniably out of place, even inept, in a great many everyday situations, he had a talent—a genius even—that he shared with only a handful of men throughout history—genuine leadership. He was, as one of his men put it, “the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth, bar none.” For all his blind spots and inadequacies, Shackleton merited this tribute:
For scientific leadership give me Scott; for swift and efficient travel, Amundsen; but when you are in a hopeless situation, and when there seems no way out, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.”
May that inspire you to find a situation where you can express your own genius.
Highly recommended read. WGMI.
