V.

Assessment

Cook's three voyages to the Pacific added greatly to scientific knowledge of the peoples, natural history, and geography of the Pacific. They also laid the foundation for British dominions in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, and the subsequent colonization of the latter two. As an explorer he finally laid to rest the concept of the Great Southern Continent.

Cook's scientific rigour can be seen in his accurate charting of coastlines and plotting of coordinates, opening a new era in European knowledge of the Pacific by decisively superseding the inaccurate and inconsistent information which had for so long impeded efficient exploration of the area. It can also be seen in the virtual eradication of scurvy from his voyages by insistence on a proper diet (a lesson lost on many of his 19th-century successors). He passed on these concerns to sailors who trained under him, such as George Vancouver and William Bligh, who made important voyages of their own. Lastly, although many missionaries followed in his wake, Cook himself maintained a remarkably dispassionate and unbiased approach in his observations of unfamiliar cultures, constantly seeking to understand them on their own terms—an attitude that contrasted with the often censorious approach of many 19th-century voyagers. Perhaps his most important continuing legacy is a model of contact between different cultures on a basis of humane understanding.