Extra History

Exploring the Pacific - Farther Than Any Man (87x5)

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The attempt to catalog the Pacific was made a little tricky by the nature of European exploration. Everything that was discovered by one country was usually kept a state secret so that other countries couldn't contest the ownership of their colonies. Enter France. With Louis Antoine de Bougainville came the ideas of the Enlightenment and scientific voyages dedicated to exploration rather than setting up colonies or claiming new territory. And that would be exemplified with James Cook, the commander of the HM Bark Endeavour, an explorer that would inspire the Starship Enterprise and James T. Kirk & Tupaia, the incredible navigator & priest mentioned in episode 2.