William Speirs Bruce

William Speirs Bruce was a Scottish nationalist and naturalist who led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902-04) as well as participating in or leading many other polar expeditions from 1892 through to 1919, particularly to Spitsbergen. He is now largely forgotten compared with the 'greats', Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen. This biography returns to primary sources to provide a new and controversial view of the relationship between Bruce and the then President of the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Clements Markham, and also draws conclusions about Bruce's personality, in particular suggesting that he was probably on the autistic spectrum.

Bruce was ahead of his time in dreaming of a network of cooperating meteorological stations in the south. He handed over the Laurie Island observatory to the Argentinians. He can be considered the Father of Meteorology in the South Atlantic. He had a lasting impact, publishing his work, under great difficulties, in six scientific volumes. His endeavours in the A.