Captain Cook's Computer, the Life of William Wales FRS (1734-1798)

This book is not only one for the family historian, but also the student of eighteenth century science, and the reader who is captured by the achievements of those early navigators and explorers who pushed the boundaries in trade and communications for our island nation during the 'Age of Enlightenment'. The story, researched over more than a decade, tells of a man of humble origin, who with plenty of Yorkshire grit, experienced some of the toughest conditions the world had to throw at him. Yet, whether in the high latitudes of the Americas observing the transit of Venus, or in the Antarctic regions testing Harrison's famous chronometer with Captain Cook, he never failed to lose that Yorkshire sense of humour. William Wales went on to become a respected mathematical teacher, educating future astronomers, naval officers, and navigators, as well as poets and writers. This Ancient Mariner, by his own meticulous observations, calculations, editing, and resulting works, certainly left his mark on the world.