what Captain Cook Missed in New Zealand

This gorgeous scenery was just missed by Captain Cook back in 1769.  Right around the corner, through the Mountains in the center of the photo, is a winding passage into the Tasman sea located between New Zealand and Australia.  Cook sailed around New Zealand back in 1769. He missed the entrance which is concealed to all but the closest approach and missed a beautiful sail through the Milford Sound that is enjoyed by many tourists today .  Cook would not have had any help from the native Maori people who had already driven his crew back to the ship several times. Luckily for the Maori, Cook sailed back to England without ever being able to explore the beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers and forests of New Zealand. They retained their sovereignty for over a hundred more years. Although Cook did without Maori knowledge or permission claim New Zealand as a colony for England.

You may wonder what Cook and his crew were doing so far from home.  They were on a scientific expedition to measure the transit of Venus when the planet crossed the face of the sun passing between the earth and the Sun in June of 1769.  since Venus would not repeat its transit for over a hundred years, this was a rare opportunity to make astronomical measurements and observations that led to the first accurate calculations of the size of the Solar System.  Several scientists were part of the expedition which also collected plant and animal specimens and mapped the Islands of the South Pacific and coastlines of New Zealand and Australia as they proceeded.  The scientific expedition included Sir Joseph Banks as their chief botanist who also helped with their successful observation of the transit before moving on to New Zealand.  Banks came home with Cook to lead the Royal Society for 40 years, steering science into the modern world.

Scientists of this time become adventurers who mapped measured and explored the known world and the planets, moons and stars beyond it in a great age of discovery.  New technologies and mathematical techniques made their measurements more accurate than any that came before.  They explored with support from governments and scientific societies and in turn science supported the imperial expansion of thier benefactors.  And so in 1769 the Maori met scientists and explorers from the English Empire  who would create the modern scientific civilization and return to colonize New Zealand changing thier world and ours forever.

You will find more on measuring the Transit of Venus in my book The Scientific Method and Automobile Repair in the chapter on Culture of Science

photo of Milford Sound, New Zealand by M. Bahr