At the beginning of the 19th century, when the British decided to "conquer" the Arctic, they had available to them one of the most knowledgeable Europeans on the subject at that time.

William Scoresby (1789-1857) had published a book in 1820 - "An Account of the Arctic Regions" - the result of over 60,000 miles / 97,000 kilometers of experience travelling on and through ice. He had been farther north than any other white explorer, although he didn't much care - he had been after whales, not fame.

But, although the Royal Navy often used whalers as "ice masters" on their ships, a mere whaling captain could never be placed "in charge".

So they ignored him when he said that the polar ice cap drifted. It wasn't until they found that men could struggle northward all day across the ice only to end up south of their starting point, that they accepted what Scoresby already knew.

They ignored him when he suggested using dogs and light sledges, only to have their missions fail because men were burdened and dragged down by cumbersome "boat sleds".

They ignored him when he recommended an early start across the ice cap - while it was still frozen hard and relatively flat. Another big mistake.