Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 October 2009
In the present era of instantaneous telecommunications it is scarcely conceivable that two major exploring or scientific expeditions could be planning simultaneously to operate in a particular area of the Arctic (or indeed anywhere on earth) in complete ignorance of each other's intentions until each arrived in the field. At the turn of the century, however, this was indeed possible, and did in fact happen in the case of a little-known expedition to Ellesmere Island, led by Dr Robert Stein, which found itself completely eclipsed by the much better equipped and funded expedition of Otto Sverdrup in Fram.