Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Science
- The Cambridge History of Science
- The Cambridge History Of Science
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- General Editors’ Preface
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Transnational, International, and Global
- Part II National and Regional
- Europe
- Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia
- East and Southeast Asia
- United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania
- 34 United States
- 35 Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania
- 36 Canada
- 37 United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania: A Commentary
- Latin America
- Index
35 - Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania
from United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2020
- The Cambridge History of Science
- The Cambridge History of Science
- The Cambridge History Of Science
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- General Editors’ Preface
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Transnational, International, and Global
- Part II National and Regional
- Europe
- Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia
- East and Southeast Asia
- United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania
- 34 United States
- 35 Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania
- 36 Canada
- 37 United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania: A Commentary
- Latin America
- Index
Summary
Western science entered the Pacific with James Cook’s three expeditions commencing in 1768. These and those that followed were made possible by scientific advances, especially in relation to long-distance navigation at sea and the control of scurvy among ships’ crews. Partly prompted by dreams of national glory and imperial expansion, they were ostensibly undertaken for purely scientific purposes – to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun in 1768, to expand geographical understanding, to obtain information about a vast portion of the Earth’s surface little known to Europeans.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Science , pp. 712 - 735Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020