JAMES COOK: THE OPENING OF THE PACIFIC

This book is about James Cook (1728-1779) and the opening of the Pacific. He was born in Yorkshire, and joined the Navy in 1755, and soon became a warrant officer. When in Nova Scotia, he learned survey work during the Seven Years War fighting the French, and helped chart the St. Lawrence for the capture of Quebec in 1759. As commander of the schooner Grenville, he spent four years charting the coasts of Newfoundland. As part of the study of the orbit of the planet Venus to calculate the distance of the earth from the sun, James Cook was selected to command the scientific expedition to Tahiti in 1769. He was then asked to explore the Great Southern Continent south of Tahiti. James Cook, known as “the most able and enlightened navigator that England ever produced,” made three great voyages, the first from 1968-1771 on the HMS Endeavour, the second from 1772-1775 on the HMS Resolution, and the third voyage, again on the HMS Resolution, from 1776-1780. The book tells of these voyages, the places he explored, and it is filled with beautiful illustrations, drawings, and maps from the voyages.