Johann Reinhold Forster's "Observations," first published in 1778, is the most significant and substantial analysis of non-Western cultures to have emerged from the Cook voyages. Forster served as naturalist on Cook's second voyage of 1772-1775, which dramatically extended European cartographic and ethnographic knowledge in the pacific and the Antarctic. The remarkable volume Forster produced upon his return is a singularly rich source for European thinking about such questions as the nature of scientific exploration, the progress of indigenous societies, the status of women, the meaning of national distinctness, and the role of climate in determining the character of varieties of plants, animals, and people.

This first scholarly edition of Forster's book features introductory essays addressing its historical, ethnographic, political, and scientific contexts. Wide-ranging annotations link the text to other sources from Cook's second voyage and provide anthropological, historical, biographical, and bibliographic background. Two linguistic appendixes treat Forster's transcriptions of Polynesian words and place names. The volume is fully illustrated with sketches, paintings, and engravings from the voyage, ethnographic artifacts collected by Forster, and maps showing the route of the Resolution in relation to previous voyages.