As far as this book claims, aside from being resilient and brave, Scott seems to have bungled his way through most of his life. The fatal expedition seems to have been a long string of bad decisions and underestimation.

I feel like the book is somewhat biased against Scott, but it also seems like he gets a lot wrong, compared to someone like Amundsen who really set the bar for Antarctic exploration and preparation.

https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/The_Last_Place_on_Ear...