From transit of Venus to teaching navigation: the work of William Wales (Reprinted from Astronomy and Geophysics, vol 39, 1998)

William Wales (1734-1798) contributed to astronomy through his observations of the 1769 transit of Venus, and his studies of latitude and longitude on Captain James Cook's second voyage to the South Seas. During this voyage, Wales was responsible for monitoring the performance of the chronometers. A fter returning from the Pacific, Wales took charge of the Royal Mathematica l School at Christ's Hospital in London and, over the next two decades, he taught a succession of budding officers the principles of navigation.