Key inquiry questions
• What were the aims of Britain's first voyage of exploration?
• How were scientific investigations conducted?
Cook's First Voyage of Exploration
Cook's first voyage was a voyage of scientific discovery borne out of the scientific and philosophical thinking of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a European intellectual and cultural movement that questioned the church's beliefs by seeking truth in science and reason during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The voyage on board Her Majesty's Bark Endeavour (1768-1771) was a combined Royal Navy (the Admiralty) and Royal Society of London (civilian) expedition of the South Pacific for scientific advancement. Departing Plymouth in August 1768 the voyage's first goal was to record the transit of Venus in June 1769. Joseph Banks and his team of scientists, artists and servants joined the voyage with the second goal of observing and recording natural history. The third and undisclosed goal was to go in search of Terra Australis Incognita, the Great South Land and ‘with the Consent of the Natives to take possession of Convenient Situations in the Country in the Name of the King of Great Britain'.
Cook went on two further voyages of discovery, the second with two ships Resolution and Adventure to continue the search for the unknown southern continent. This voyage saw Cook sail over 100,000 km and cross over the Antarctic Circle, reaching 71°10'S, further south than any ship before. On his third and final voyage he went in search of a great north west passage, one that would prove profitable for British trade. Sailing the Resolution and accompanied by the Charles Clerke commanding the Discovery, Cook was unsuccessful. The journey ended with his death in Hawaii on February 14, 1779 from conflict with the Hawaiian people.
Question: Why were the instructions to search for the Great Southern Continent kept secret?
Working scientifically
The scientists onboard HMB Endeavour engaged in scientific thinking and process in their pursuit of knowledge. Charles Green brought new technologies and ideas in hopes to successfully record the transit of Venus and Joseph Banks was accompanied by Daniel Solander who worked with the Linnaeus classification system to group the new plants and animals they encountered. In exploring the Pacific, Cook and Banks made detailed observations in journals and Endeavour's artists sketched and painted the new world as a record of their discoveries. A scientific approach to promote the health of sailors saw Cook test new ideas for the prevention and treatment of scurvy, a disease that led to the death of up to two million sailors up to the 18C.
Question: How do we work and think scientifically?
Main image: The Bark, Earl of Pembroke, later Endeavour, leaving Whitby Harbour in 1768. Thomas Luny, 1790.