James Cook was described by his patron， Sir Hugh Palliser as “the ablest and most renowned navigator that this or any country has ever produced.”

Born in Marton， England， in 1728， the son of a humble farm labourer， Cook rose to become an internationally known naval captain and explorer—a considerable achievement in the 18th century.

James Cook in Whitby Captain Cooks training as a seaman began in Whitby. He was born on October 27th， 1728， in Marton， Yorkshire. His father was a Scottish migrant farm worker who allowed James to apprentice on coal carrying boats at the age of 18.

By 1755， Cook was an experienced and trusted seaman and was offered the command of a ship. But he had other plans.

The Royal Navy and Canada

In June 1755， Cook left Whitby and volunteered as an ordinary seaman in the Royal Navy. The only explanation he gave was that： “I had a mind to try my fortune that way.” Cook signed on serving on the HMS Eagle for two years. Within a month he was promoted to masters mate.

It was the beginning of the Seven Years War with France. He saw action in two sea fights. Significantly， he caught the eye of his captain， Hugh Palliser who gave him instruction in charting and navigation. After two years， he was promoted to the HMS Pembroke as master. He witnessed the effects of scurvy when crossing the Atlantic， and put his charting and navigational skills to good use in the St. Lawrence River， which helped in the capture of Quebec from the French.

In 1762， he married Elizabeth Batts. Cook was 13 years older than his wife. They spent only four months together before Cook went back to sea. This was to be the pattern for much of their married life.

The First Voyage （1768-1771）

Following the war， Cooks skill at navigation and interest in astronomy made him the perfect candidate to lead an expedition planned by the Royal Society and Royal Navy to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the sun. Precise measurements of this event were needed worldwide in order to determine the distance between the earth and sun.

Cook set sail from England in August， 1768 on the Endeavor. His first stop was Rio de Janeiro， then the Endeavor proceeded west to Tahiti where camp was established and the transit of Venus was measured. After the stop in Tahiti， Cook had orders to explore and claim possessions for Britain. He charted New Zealand and the east coast of Australia.

From there he proceeded to the East Indies （Indonesia） and across the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. It was an easy voyage between Africa and home， arriving in July 1771.

The Second Voyage （1772-1775）

The Royal Navy promoted James Cook to captain following his return and had a new mission for him： to find “Terra Australis，” the unknown southern land. In the 18th century， it was believed that there was much more land south of the equator than had already been discovered. Cooks first voyage did not disprove claims of a huge landmass near the South Pole between New Zealand and South America.

Two ships， the Resolution and the Adventure left in July 1772 and headed to Cape Town just in time for the southern summer. Captain Cook proceeded south from Africa and turned around after encountering large amounts of floating pack ice （he came within 75 miles of Antarctica）. He then sailed to New Zealand for the winter and in summer proceeded south again past the Antarctic Circle. By circumnavigating the southern waters around Antarctica， he determined that there was no habitable southern continent. During this voyage he also discovered several island chains in the Pacific Ocean.

After Cook arrived back in Britain in July 1775， he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and received their highest honor for his geographic exploration. Soon Cooks skills would again be put to use.

The Third Voyage （1776-1779）

The Royal Navy wanted Cook to determine if there was a Northwest Passage， a mythical waterway which would allow sailing between Europe and Asia across the top of North America. Cook set out in July of 1776， rounded the southern tip of Africa， and headed east across the Indian Ocean. He passed between the north and south islands of New Zealand （through Cook Strait） and towards the coast of North America. He sailed along the coast of what would become Oregon， British Columbia， and Alaska and proceeded through the Bering Straight. His navigation of the Bering Sea was halted by the impassible Arctic ice.

Upon yet again discovering that something did not exist， he continued his voyage. His last stop was in February 1779 at the Sandwich Islands （Hawaii） where he was killed in a fight with islanders over the theft of a boat.

Cooks explorations dramatically increased European knowledge of the world. As a ship captain and skilled cartographer， he filled in many gaps on world maps. His contributions to 18th century science helped propel further exploration and discovery for many generations.

詹姆士·庫克被其資助人休·帕利澤爵士形容為“這個(gè)國(guó)家或任何一個(gè)國(guó)家出現(xiàn)的最有才能和最有名的航海家”。

庫克在1728年出生于英國(guó)的馬頓鎮(zhèn)，父親是一名出身低微的農(nóng)場(chǎng)工人。庫克后來成為國(guó)際知名的海軍船長(zhǎng)和探險(xiǎn)家——這在18世紀(jì)是相當(dāng)大的成就。

詹姆斯·庫克在惠特比庫克船長(zhǎng)的海員訓(xùn)練始于惠特比。他于1728年10月27日生于約克郡的馬頓鎮(zhèn)。他的父親是蘇格蘭移民，也是一名農(nóng)場(chǎng)工人。他準(zhǔn)許詹姆斯在18歲時(shí)到運(yùn)煤船上當(dāng)學(xué)徒。

到了1755年，庫克已經(jīng)很有經(jīng)驗(yàn)，備受信任，并被授予船只指揮權(quán)，但他還有其他打算。

軍旅生涯

1755年6月，庫克離開惠特比志愿參軍，加入英國(guó)皇家海軍當(dāng)一名普通水手。他只給出了這個(gè)解釋：“我想在那里碰碰運(yùn)氣?！睅炜撕灱s為英國(guó)皇家海軍艦艇“鷹號(hào)”服役兩年。不到一個(gè)月，他已經(jīng)被提拔為大副。

當(dāng)時(shí)英法之間的七年戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)剛剛開始。他親歷了兩場(chǎng)海戰(zhàn)。不過最重要的是，他引起了船長(zhǎng)休·帕利澤的注意，后者在制圖和航海方面對(duì)庫克進(jìn)行指點(diǎn)。兩年后，他晉升為英國(guó)皇家海軍艦艇“彭布魯克號(hào)”的船長(zhǎng)。在穿越大西洋的時(shí)候他親眼目睹了壞血病的影響；他在圣勞倫斯河充分發(fā)揮了自己的制圖和航海技術(shù)，幫助（英國(guó)）從法國(guó)手上奪取魁北克。

1762年，他迎娶了比自己年輕13歲的伊麗莎白·巴茨。他們只在一起共度了四個(gè)月，庫克就要再次出海。這也成為隨后兩人婚姻生活的常態(tài)。

第一次航行（1768-1771年）

戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)結(jié)束后，英國(guó)皇家學(xué)會(huì)和皇家海軍計(jì)劃派出一隊(duì)遠(yuǎn)征隊(duì)到大溪地觀察金星凌日，庫克的航海技術(shù)及其對(duì)天文學(xué)的興趣使他成為帶領(lǐng)這次探險(xiǎn)的最佳人選。（皇家學(xué)會(huì)）需要得到這一天文現(xiàn)象在世界各地的精確測(cè)量數(shù)據(jù)，以便測(cè)量地球與太陽的距離。

1768年8月，庫克乘坐“奮勇號(hào)”從英國(guó)起航。他的第一站是里約熱內(nèi)盧，隨后“奮勇號(hào)”繼續(xù)向西航行到達(dá)大溪地。他們?cè)谀抢锝I(yíng)地，并測(cè)量了金星凌日的數(shù)據(jù)。在大溪地停留之后，庫克收到指令，要為英國(guó)考察當(dāng)?shù)厍闆r并將此處收歸英國(guó)所有。他繪制了新西蘭和澳大利亞東岸的海岸線圖。

他繼續(xù)航行，到達(dá)東印度群島（印度尼西亞），橫跨印度洋到達(dá)非洲最南端的好望角。從非洲返回家鄉(xiāng)的航程很順利，他們?cè)?771年7月抵達(dá)。

第二次航行（1772-1775年）

詹姆斯·庫克回到英國(guó)后，皇家海軍提拔他為船長(zhǎng)，同時(shí)給了他一項(xiàng)新任務(wù)：尋找未知的“南方大陸”。在18世紀(jì)，人們認(rèn)為赤道以南的陸地比當(dāng)時(shí)已發(fā)現(xiàn)的要多得多。庫克的第一次航行未能證明新西蘭和南美洲之間的南極附近不存在一片巨大陸地。

“決心號(hào)”和“探險(xiǎn)號(hào)”兩艘船在1772年7月離開，向開普敦進(jìn)發(fā)，這時(shí)剛好趕上南半球的夏天。庫克船長(zhǎng)從非洲向南航行，在遇到大量浮冰塊后折返（他當(dāng)時(shí)離南極洲不到75英里，約121千米）。他隨后航行到新西蘭過冬，在夏天再次向南航行，越過南極圈。在南極洲周圍的南部水域繞行一圈后，他斷定沒有適合人居住的南方大陸。在這次航行中，他還發(fā)現(xiàn)了太平洋的一些列島。

1775年7月回到英國(guó)后，庫克被選為皇家學(xué)會(huì)會(huì)員，并因其地理勘探成就而獲得學(xué)會(huì)的最高榮譽(yù)。不久之后， 庫克的才能將再一次派上用場(chǎng)。

第三次航行（1776-1779年）

皇家海軍希望庫克確認(rèn)西北航道是否存在——據(jù)說該航道可以讓船只橫越北美洲頂端，在亞歐之間航行。庫克于1776年7月動(dòng)身，繞過非洲南端，然后向東行穿越印度洋。他穿過新西蘭北部和南部的島嶼（經(jīng)由庫克海峽），駛向北美洲海岸。他沿著今天的（美國(guó)） 俄勒岡州、（加拿大）不列顛哥倫比亞省及（美國(guó)）阿拉斯加的海岸線航行，并越過白令海峽。他在白令海的航行因無法穿越北極冰塊而止步。

斷定之前假設(shè)的西北航道并不存在后，他繼續(xù)旅程。他的最后一站是桑威奇群島（即夏威夷）。他于1779年2月來到這里，因?yàn)橐黄鹜荡录c當(dāng)?shù)貚u民發(fā)生沖突而被殺。

庫克的探險(xiǎn)大大拓寬了歐洲人對(duì)世界的認(rèn)識(shí)。作為一名船長(zhǎng)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的繪圖師，他為世界地圖填補(bǔ)了很多空白。他對(duì)18世紀(jì)科學(xué)作出的貢獻(xiàn)推動(dòng)了后人對(duì)世界進(jìn)行進(jìn)一步探索和發(fā)現(xiàn)。