Green Alone John Wilson Cook Summary

Green alone, my Quadrant being out of Order” (Cook 26). Often, Cook reported on their work and the instruments they used simultaneously, saying in June of 1769, “Mr. Green's Telescope and mine were of the same Magnifying power, but that of the Doctor [Solander] was greater than ours” (Cook 55). Thanks to his scholars and the purpose of the voyage, Cook easily wrote instrumentation into the journal. For the majority of the journal, Cook was relatively vague about specific experiences with the instruments, but he frequently mentions them. Sometimes, Cook admits to instrument failure, but those instances should not hinder his credibility according to Keighren:
We also try'd the Diping Needle belonging to the Royal Society, and found the North point to Dip 26 degrees below the Horizon; but this Instrument cannot be used at Sea to any great degree of accuracy on account of the Motion of the Ship, which hinders the Needle from resting (Cook 17).
If anything, Cook demonstrates an utmost respect for the scientific process by exposing the shortcomings of particular instruments. According to Keighren, an awareness of the …show more content…
One travel scholar, Dr. Carl Thompson who wrote Travel Writing, spent two chapters of his book theorizing how travel writers establish a sense of truth and reason through detail and attachment throughout their pieces. According to Thompson, one method of building credibility is for travel writers to narrate in a first person, “I visited/I saw” format; first person narration establishes a writer as an eye-witness (Thompson 65). Both Cook and Defoe wrote their journals from a first person perspective, but Thompson would also argue they fall victim to personal barriers. Thompson more eloquently refers to these barriers as an inability to “comprehend phenomena that surpasses or overturns all previous expectations” (Thompson