An English mission funded by the Royal Society and led by James Cook observed the transit of Venus across the Sun from Tahiti. The mission was very expensive. The primary scientific goal was to determine the distance of the Earth from the Sun, but the mission was enriched by naturalists and other scientists, as well as astronomers. More than half of the members of the seafaring missions at the time died on the mission itself, mostly from scurvy, a common disease among sailors. It is estimated that scurvy claimed the lives of more than 2 million sailors. This was until 1747, when an English doctor, James Lind, after performing precise scientific experiments on sailors, feeding them various foods, concluded that oranges and lemons reduced or eliminated the risk of contracting scurvy. Until then, sailors had been fed biscuits and dried meat. At the time, science was not yet established, and few believed James Lind’s findings. Among these few is James Cook, who loads tons of oranges. Cook will not lose a single sailor during the mission. And soon all the world’s navies will adopt this diet. A scientific mission with an astronomical focus ends up having great strategic military significance. Cook will reach Australia and countless Pacific archipelagos, including New Zealand, securing their control by the British Empire. Cook’s discoveries during the mission will reverberate for centuries.
