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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Winter Movies 2015: Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery

My next winter movie is also a documentary – Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery, featuring British historian, Vanessa Collingridge. She became intrigued with Captain James Cook after learning that his wife, Elizabeth, burned all his letters when she was in her 90s. This sent her on a quest to learn more about Cook, and the woman who captained their home. Were they hiding some secret?

The documentary traces Cook's roots as a boy on the moors of Yorkshire, England; to his education, paid for by the Lord of the Manor who recognized his potential; to his days sailing coal schooners in the North Sea; to becoming an able seaman in the Royal Navy in London. He served five years in Quebec, Canada starting in 1756, during the war between Britain and France. Upon his return home, he married Elizabeth, who was the daughter of a tavern keeper on the water front. He sought a commission for a ship, even though he was not a gentleman and lacked money or connections.

 
He finally obtained his first assignment on the HMS Endeavor in 1768, and began his three-year journey to view the Transept of Venus, and circumnavigate the Southern Hemisphere (this is the journey on which our botanists Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander sailed, along with their scientific crew). Cook was a thorough and precise map maker (sometimes to the distress of his crew), and used the latest technology to create his charts. Cook made two subsequent journeys - back to the Southern Hemisphere, and then North to seek the Northwest Passage. On the journey home from exploring coastal Alaska in 1779, Captain Cook was killed by natives in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Throughout the film, Collingridge explores the man – the genius and obsession.

I was especially intrigued how Cook embraced the new navigational technology of his day. He encountered the plane table survey while serving in Canada, and grasped how triangulation could change navigation. Later he embraced the chronometer used to identify longitude. Together, these tools helped Cook create some of the most accurate maps that had ever been made. His officers continued this legacy as excellent navigators and map makers.

I was also intrigued how many of Cook's attitudes were ahead of his time. He insisted that his crew eat sauerkraut to avoid scurvy, even if the science behind it was not yet understood. He led by example and used psychology, rather than automatically resorting flogging. He appreciated the indigenous populations they encountered, and was impressed with the Polynesian navigators. He was disciplined, but understood the human nature of his crew. Collingridge does not solve the mystery of why Elizabeth burned their letters, but I did develop an appreciation of her strength, which matched Cook's own. Perhaps they were both just very private people.

This series may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed watching it to round out my understanding of the plant explorers of the 1700s and their world. You can rent or buy the DVD, or see the series on YouTube:

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