Robert Falcon Scott Markham's first choice as leader but, having decided on him, the older man's support remained constant. There were committee battles over the scope of Scott's responsibilities, with the Royal Society pressing to put a scientist in charge of the expedition's programme while Scott merely commanded the ship. Eventually, however, Markham's view prevailed; Scott was given overall command, and was promoted to the rank of commander before "Discovery" sailed for the Antarctic on 6 August 1901. King Edward VII, who showed a keen interest in the expedition, visited the Discovery the day before the ship left British shores in August 1901,
The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 Canopus tends and guards and instructs." The book contains a 30-page afterword in which Lessing states that "The Making of the Representative for Planet 8" and the previous book in this series, "The Sirian Experiments" were inspired by her 50-year fascination in the ill-fated 1910–13 Antarctic expedition of Robert Falcon Scott, though not, she points out, by the element of ice and polar conditions in itself. Lessing expresses a concern that Scott and his explorers, heroes in their day, were vilified by recent generations. She analyses the disastrous expedition and the changes as to how it, and Scott himself, have