Captain James Cook and The Royal Society

Abstract

Foremost among the scientific societies of Europe the Royal Society took the initiative in making the necessary preparations for the observations of the transit of Venus in the eighteenth century, when this phenomenon occurred only twice. Such observations were necessary in order to enable the calculation of the solar parallax to be made. The observations of the transit of Venus in 1761 proved to be unsatisfactory and consequently the transit of 1769 was looked forward to with great anticipation. In 1766 Council embarked on the preliminary arrangements for the observation of the forthcoming transit. Exertions were made to engage the most competent observers and instruments were recalled and put in good order. The result of their deliberations was a Memorial to the King in February 1768. The memorialists, after stating the reasons for the desirability of the observations, proposed several localities where the observations should take place. One such locality was '. . . any place not exceeding 30 degrees of Southern latitude, and between the 140th and 180th degrees of longitude West . . .’. The King immediately granted the prayer of the memorialists and ordered a sum of ‘ £4,000 clear of fees’ to be paid to them. The Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, F.R.S., was directed by the Council of the Royal Society to prepare the necessary instructions for the observers, Messrs Dymond and Wales, who were to be sent to Hudson Bay; Mr Call to Madras; and Lieutenant Cook and Mr Green to the Pacific. The instructions for Lieutenant Cook and Mr Green are recorded in Council Minutes (1). ( See Appendix A.) The expedition to the Pacific had for its main, but not exclusive object, the observation of the transit by Mr Green and was placed under the command of Lieutenant James Cook who hoisted his pennant in the Endeavour .