HMS Endeavour 1768–71
HMS Endeavour 1768–71
This chapter points out Joseph Banks's participation in determining the places to properly observe the ensuing transit of Venus. It explains that the transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event during which the planet passes across the face of the sun. It also describes the twenty-five-year-old Banks who desperately wanted the opportunity to collect, study, and record both natural history specimens and knowledge from mostly unexplored part of the world, the South Seas. The chapter highlights Banks's preparation for the first southern circumnavigation of HMS Dolphin and take full advantage of the voyage's natural history potential. It also talks about Alexander Dalrymple, a distinguished hydrographer who joined Banks in the South Seas.
Keywords: Joseph Banks, transit of Venus, natural history, South Seas, HMS Dolphin, Alexander Dalrymple
Yale Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.