to Z of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands

The long voyages of discovery and exploration of the vast Pacific Ocean were an exercise in logistics navigation hard grit shipwreck and pure luck. The motivations were scientific and geographic but at the same time nationalistic and materialistic. This ambitious and informative reference includes the familiar names of Laperouse Bougainville Cook and Dampier as well as the intriguing stories of the Bounty Mutiny scurvy and the mysterious Northwest Passage Terra Australis Ignotia and Davis Land. There are cross-referenced entries on first contacts ships navigational instruments mapping and botany. The scene is carefully set in the introduction the chronology spans several centuries and the extensive bibliography offers a guide to further reading.