James Cook

James Cook was a British naval captain, navigator, and explorer who sailed the seaways and coasts of Canada and conducted three expeditions to the Pacific Ocean (1768–71, 1772–75, and 1776–79), ranging from the Antarctic ice fields to the Bering Strait and from the coasts of North America to Australia and New Zealand.

James Cook was killed on a beach at Kealakekua in Hawaii during a dispute with native peoples over the theft of a boat.

The Endeavour voyage led by James Cook included scientists, and the wealth of scientifically collected material from the voyage was unique. The expedition established the useful principle of sending scientists on naval voyages—e.g., Charles Darwin in the Beagle—and stimulated interest not only in new lands but in many other scientific subjects.

As a captain, James Cook prevented scurvy on his ships by ensuring cleanliness and ventilation in the crew’s quarters. Cook insisted on an appropriate diet that included cress, sauerkraut, and a kind of orange extract. The health in which he maintained his sailors, in consequence, made his name a naval byword.

James Cook was awarded one of the Royal Society's highest honours, the gold Copley Medal, for a paper that he prepared on his work against scurvy.