COOK, JAMES

born Oct. 27, 1728, Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, Eng. died Feb. 14, 1779, Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii James Cook, oil painting by J. Webber; in the National Portrait Gallery, London. British naval captain, navigator, and explorer, who explored the seaways and coasts of Canada (1759, 176367) and conducted three expeditions to the Pacific Ocean (176871; 177275; 177679), ranging from the Antarctic ice fields to the Bering Strait and from the coasts of North America to Australia and New Zealand. Additional reading J.C. Beaglehole, The Life of Captain James Cook (1974), is a detailed biography. Alan Villiers, Captain Cook, the Seamen's Seaman: A Study of the Great Discoverer (1967, reprinted 1978), is a shorter life study. Historical background of the discoveries and an assessment of their importance are presented in J.C. Beaglehole, The Exploration of the Pacific, 3rd ed. (1966); Daniel Conner and Lorraine Miller, Master Mariner, Capt. James Cook and the Peoples of the Pacific (1978); Hugh Cobbe (ed.), Cook's Voyages and Peoples of the Pacific (1979); and Lynne Withey, Voyages of Discovery: Captain Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific (1987).