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Captain James Cook
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Captain James Cook (1728-1779)
English explorer; popularly known as Captain Cook, he served as a sailor in the English navy and merchant marine before embarking on his famous voyages around the world. Cook was an excellent seaman and student of the mathematics of navigation.
Born at Marton, Yorkshire, England, 27 October 1728; died Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, 14 February 1779. Navigator and hydrographer.
Cook's first voyage on the ship named Endeavour lasted from 1768 until 1771. It was billed publicly as a voyage to Tahiti for the purpose of carrying out observations on the transit of venus that occurred in 1769. However, Cook also had secret instructions to sail south, in order to search for the rumored huge southern continent. In the course of his travels, Cook charted New Zealand (first reached by Europeans in 1642), charted the east coast of Australia, and found Torres Strait. Among the passengers who sailed with Cook was Joseph banks, the botanist whose collections and observations vastly expanded eighteenth-century knowledge of world flora.
Cook's second voyage, with the ships named Resolution and Adventure, occurred from 1772 until 1775. Again, he searched for the great southern continent, "discovering" in the course of his travels Easter Island, Tonga, the Marquesas, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, part of Tierra del Fuego, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands. Traveling with Cook on this voyage were Johann Georg forster and his father Johann Reinhold Forster.
Cook's practices at sea—his demand for shipboard cleanliness, the provision of time for exercise, and the use of lime juice or lemon juice to ward off scurvy—became the model for the Royal Navy and acted as proof of the benefits to be gained by attention to practical human needs. As a reward for his achievements, Cook was promoted to captain. The royal society of London received him as a fellow and awarded him the Copley Medal for his paper on the prevention of scurvy.
Cook left an account of his travels that was published as A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World Per formed in His Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Adventure,in the years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775 (1777).
Cook began a third exploring voyage, designed to find the rumored Northwest Passage through the North American continent. He sailed east toward Alaska with the Resolution and the Discovery, landing on the island of Hawaii and charting much of the Bering Strait. Upon returning to Hawaii to overwinter, Cook was killed by Hawaiians in an incident involving a dispute over a boat.
Cook's exploits amply illustrate the manner in which the technological and mathematical advances spurred by the scientific spirit of the enlightenment led to significant discoveries and advantages for European nations. His travel memoirs, like those of other travelers, were read avidly by Europeans. The new cultures and worlds that were constantly being discovered helped to stimulate discussions in fields as widespread as comparative religion, anthropology, and the natural sciences.
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