Science & Art of Cook's Voyage
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ART FROM COOK IN TAHITI AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
Images courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library.
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BANKS' BOTANICAL DRAWINGS
Images courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library.
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Art From Cook's Voyages
This is a collection of art from Cook's voyages. Images courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library.
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Freemasonry, the Royal Society, and the Age of Discovery
This article written by Alex Davidson looks at the origins of the Royal Society from the time of the Civil War and King Charles II. The article looks at the links between the Society of Freemasons who were the custodians of the arts of mathematics, particularly geometry, originally learned from the Arabs, who were much in advance of Europe in these disciplines during the Middle Ages.
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Endeavour's Scientific Impact.
Captain Cook set forth to chart the transit of the planet Venus and also to follow some secret orders. This six part article on the BBC History site reveals how Cook's "other" orders resulted in huge advances in European scientific knowledge.
The voyage in context
Banks and Solander
Botanical discoveries
The artistic legacy
The impact on science by the voyage of the Endeavour
Find out more
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Sir Joseph Banks (1743 - 1820)
British explorer, naturalist and long-time president of the Royal Society - London who became known for his promotion of science.In 1768 Banks led the Royal Society delegation on a voyage around the world with Captain James Cook, during which time they landed in New Zealand, at Poverty Bay, in 1769. While there, Banks described a great number of plants found in the area and wrote detailed descriptions of the Maori people who lived there. His scientific account of the voyage and its discoveries sparked considerable interest in Europe, encouraging European settlement near the Pacific islands.
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Plant Explorers
Joseph Banks, recently returned from his travels with Captain Cook, was a great favorite of the King as he saw in him a kindred spirit interested in a wide range of subjects. It became a personal challenge for Banks to obtain all the latest botanical discoveries for Kew before any other garden in Europe. His connections with the Royal Society helped to secure Kew as a centre of scientific and even economic research.
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The Golden Age of Botany
The defining individual of the 'Golden Age of Botany' would have to be Carl Linnaeus but there were many who worked on theories that would later influence Linnaeus in developing his system of classification. But it was perhaps the adventure of discovery that defined the age, that wanderlust that gripped the imagination of young men like Carl Linnaeus, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander.
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The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew
The original garden at Kew was an 11-acre pleasure ground within the larger Richmond Gardens where members of the Royal Family maintained residences. King George III had a great fondness for gardens, used Kew as a residence for much of the week during the 1770's and sought out the best gardeners and designers of the day to improve the grounds and buildings.
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Endeavour Botanical Illustrations
The voyage of HMS Endeavour (1768-1771) was the first devoted exclusively to scientific discovery. This site is presented by the Natural History Museum and contains most of the botanical drawings and engravings prepared by artist Sydney Parkinson before his untimely death at sea, then by other artists back in England working from Parkinson's initial sketches.
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