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observers... and the court of Russia are doing the same... not to mention
the several observers who are going to various places, on the same errand from
different parts of Europe; England should neglect to send observers to such
places.... This is by foreign countries in general expected from us. (Woolf
1956 , 510 – 11 )
The Royal Society was granted £ 1 , 600 and the services of Navy vessels.
This funding supported two British expeditions, one to the South Atlantic
island of St. Helena, and one to Bencoolen (in southern Sumatra). To-
gether with a Massachusetts- funded expedition to Newfoundland, Britain
was able to match the French effort.
The Royal Society’s petition, reminiscent of modern Big Science advo-
cacy, focuses on the implications of TOV expeditions for British national
prestige. Since there were no apparent strategic or economic benefits that
could have resulted from successful observations, advocates were left with
prestige as the main form of expected utility. Moreover, although Britain
had all the information regarding the scientific importance of the tran-
sit, it started viewing it as a worthy endeavor only after learning that the
French were doing so. Hence, British governmental investment in transit
observations was not motivated by scientific curiosity but by international
competition. In the context of pure scientific knowledge, such compe-
tition makes sense only if it generates prestige side benefits. However,
while transit observation had no economic spillovers, the voyage itself
could produce significant paybacks. The mission provided an opportunity
to test and improve navigation methods and seafaring know- how, which
were crucial for the welfare of a maritime power such as Britain, and to
explore some of the most distant regions of the planet. While the desire to
improve navigation skills and to discover new lands was certainly impor-
tant, it was not sufficient to consolidate support for a mission. Only when
international competition was introduced were mission advocates able to
secure the needed funds.
Voyages such as the ones required for transit observations were lengthy,
expensive, and dangerous.^13 The ongoing war added risk and uncertainty
to an already precarious adventure. Despite expectations for mutual safe-
passage guarantees for astronomers, British observers Charles Mason and
Jeremiah Dixon found themselves under fire when their ship, HMS Sea-
horse, was attacked by a French frigate (Woolf 1959 , 101 ). The Seahorse
was forced to return to port and undergo repairs, wasting precious time
and forcing Mason and Dixon to forgo their original plan and instead ob-
