Before we enter upon a recital of the great expeditions of the eighteenth century, we shall do well to chronicle the immense progress made during that period by the sciences. They rectified a crowd of prejudices and established a solid basis for the labours of astronomers and geographers. If we refer them solely to the matter before us, they radically modified cartography, and ensured for navigation a security hitherto unknown.
Verne Jules, Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part 2. The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century, London, Sampson Low, 1882.