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James Cook, an English navigator, is often called the greatest explorer of the 18th century, for his voyages to the Pacific Ocean, and how he used science to help with his constant exploration and cartography. He was born on October 27, 1728, and he was the son of a Scotsman, a poor one at that, who lived in Yorkshire. He started out in the navy as a lowly mate, in 1755, and in four years, he became a master. Then, he participated in naval operations during the Seven Years' War, as a surveyor, in command of the Mercury. When the war ended, in 1763, he again used his surveying skills by commanding the schooner Grenville, and he spent much time surveying Labrador, Nova Scottia, and Newfoundland. He studied mathematics very vigorously, and in 1766, he used a solar eclipse to measure the longitude of Newfoundland, and his findings were published in the Transactions of the Royal Society. When he returned to England in 1767, he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
He had three major voyages, throughout his somewhat short life, the Voyage of the Endeavour, and the Voyages of the Resolution. This is how the Voyage of the Endeavour went:
In 1768, the Royal Society requested the Admiralty's help in observing the transit of Venus at Tahiti, which was to occur in June of 1769. James Cook was chosen as commander of this expedition. He was given secret instructions that he was also supposed to search for terra australia incognita, called the unknown southern land in english . He left with his crew, many scientists, an astronomer, two botanists, and many artists, on August 26, 1768.
During the voyage, people remembered how smart he was to bring along provisions that lasted, so that crew members did not easily get scurvy. By April , in 1769, the ship reached Tahiti's shores. In the three months that they spent there, the island was thoroughly surveyed, and the transit of Venus was observed on June 3, 1769. They arrived on land on October 7, 1769. After their arrival, James Cook rediscovered the area of land in which their ship was docked, which turned out to be New Zealand, explored and surveyed many various islands around the area, and then sailed west, and reached the unexplored eastern coast of Australia. Cook sailed north along that coast to learn more about the land. Later, the Endeavor was damaged seriously by a coral reef, and it took two months to only make the ship seaworthy. Finally, on July 13, 1771, James Cook reached England.
Because the Admiralty was still not sure if there was a large southern continent, Cook was called on again to command the Resolution, which was accompanied by the Adventure. As before, they took along many scientists and artists. They left Plymouth on July 13, 1772. Once they reached the Cape of Good Hope, they then traveled south and crossed the Antarctic Circle. They found no continent, so they then explored the South Pacific. The two ships lost contact, and the Adventure returned to England. That was the first ship to circumnavigate the globe from west to east. But the Resolution kept exploring, and again crossed the Antarctic Circle, and again crossed the South Pacific, with much exploring along the way. He sailed across the South Atlantic, and again to the Cape of Good Hope. Finally, he sailed to England, and he reached the docks in 1775. He had finally proven that there was no large continent in the warmer part of the Pacific, but he was sure that there was an Antarctic continent. He was then elected into the Royal Society. He was promoted to Captain, and then he again sailed on the Resolution. When he went exploring in the Arctic Ocean, the ship was damaged. He sailed to Hawaii for repairs, and he was killed an a small battle with some native Polynesians, on February 14, 1779. The Resolution then returned to England.
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