Editing James Cook (section)

===Canada===
During the [[Seven Years' War]], Cook served in North America as master aboard the [[fourth-rate]] Navy vessel {{HMS|Pembroke|1757|6}}.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kemp|Dear|2005}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2024}} With others in ''Pembroke''{{'}}s crew, he took part in the major amphibious assault that [[Siege of Louisbourg (1758)|captured]] the [[Fortress of Louisbourg]] from the French in 1758, and in the siege of [[Quebec City]] in 1759. Throughout his service he demonstrated a talent for [[surveying]] and [[cartography]] and was responsible for mapping much of the entrance to the [[Saint Lawrence River]] during the siege, thus allowing [[James Wolfe|General Wolfe]] to make his famous stealth attack during the 1759 [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hough|1994|p=19}}</ref>

Cook's surveying ability was also put to use in mapping the jagged coast of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] in the 1760s, aboard {{HMS|Grenville|1754|6}}. He surveyed the northwest stretch in 1763 and 1764, the south coast between the [[Burin Peninsula]] and [[Cape Ray]] in 1765 and 1766, and the west coast in 1767. At this time, Cook employed local pilots to point out the "rocks and hidden dangers" along the south and west coasts. During the 1765 season, four pilots were engaged at a daily pay of 4 [[shilling]]s each: John Beck for the coast west of "[[St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador|Great St Lawrence]]", Morgan Snook for [[Fortune Bay]], John Dawson for Connaigre and [[Hermitage Bay]], and John Peck for the "[[Bay d'Espoir|Bay of Despair]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/cns/JamesCookInNewfoundland1762_1767.pdf |title=James Cook in Newfoundland 1762–1767 |first=William |last=Whiteley |year=1975 |access-date=27 August 2012 |work=Newfoundland Historical Society Pamphlet Number 3 |archive-date=13 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513194810/http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/cns/JamesCookInNewfoundland1762_1767.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

While in Newfoundland, Cook also conducted astronomical observations, in particular of the eclipse of the sun on 5 August 1766. By obtaining an accurate estimate of the time of the start and finish of the eclipse, and comparing these with the timings at a known position in England, it was possible to calculate the longitude of the observation site in Newfoundland. This result was communicated to the Royal Society in 1767.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=James |last1=Cook |first2=J. |last2=Bevis |title=An Observation of an Eclipse of the Sun at the Island of New-Found-Land, August 5, 1766, by Mr. James Cook, with the Longitude of the Place of Observation Deduced from It |date=1 January 1767 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |volume=57 |pages=215–216 |doi=10.1098/rstl.1767.0025 |url=https://archive.org/details/philtrans04718464 |doi-access=free |issn=0261-0523}}</ref>

His five seasons in Newfoundland produced the first large-scale and accurate maps of the island's coasts and were the first scientific, large-scale, hydrographic surveys to use precise [[triangulation]] to establish land outlines.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Captain_Cook_Monument_Corner_Brook.jpg |work=Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada |title=Captain James Cook R. N. |last=Government of Canada |year=2012 |access-date=2 November 2012 |archive-date=8 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108021300/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Captain_Cook_Monument_Corner_Brook.jpg |url-status=live}}</ref> They also gave Cook his mastery of practical surveying, achieved under often adverse conditions, and brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society at a crucial moment both in his career and in the direction of British overseas discovery. Cook's maps were used into the 20th century, with copies being referenced by those sailing Newfoundland's waters for 200 years.<ref>{{harvnb|Hough|1994|p=32}}</ref>

Following his exertions in Newfoundland, Cook wrote that he intended to go not only "farther than any man has been before me, but as far as I think it is possible for a man to go".<ref name="G_Williams" />