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Hello, the 18th century explorer and astronomer James Cook wrote,

Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far I think

as it is possible for man to go."

Cook's ambition took him to the far reaches of the Pacific, led to astronomical observations

which measured the distance of Venus to the Sun with unprecedented accuracy.

Cook's ambition wasn't just personal and astronomical,

it represented the ambitions of the British Empire which were linked inextricably with science and trade.

The great transit of Venus measurement on Cook's Voice

marked the beginning of a period of expansion by the British

which relied on maritime navigation based on astronomical knowledge.

How had ancient trade routes set a precedent for colonial expansion?

What was the link between astronomy and surveying?

What tools did the 18th and 19th century astronomers have at their disposal?

And how did the British use science to justify imperial ambitions?

With me to discuss Astronomy and Empire, Simon Schaffer, Professor in the History of Science at the University of Cambridge,

Kristen Lippett Gott, former director of the Royal Observatory Greenwich,

and Alan Chapman Historian of Science at the History Faculty at Oxford University.

Simon Schaffer, we tend to think of the great scientific science at the history faculty at Oxford University.

Simon Schaffer, we tend to think of the great scientific

travelers of the 18th and 19th centuries as naturalists, pre-eminently Darwin.

...