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 With the Antarctic region undeniably the remotest and most uninhabitable area on this planet, it is easy to understand why it was also the last area on earth for exploration. Discoveries have been made primarily on behalf of national or commercial purposes or sometimes a combination of the two. Occasionally, as was the case of the discovery of South Georgia in 1675, vessels were accidentally blown off their intended course. Commercial interests of the early period consisted of whaling and sealing. On the national level, a number of governments simply sent forth naval expeditions for reasons of national pride, science and navigation, exploration, or a combination of the three. A number of private geographical and scientific societies have financed research in the Antarctic region. Cooperation between the scientific communities of many nations is outstanding; i.e. the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) Antarctic research program. But it is to the early explorers that I point. It was on the second voyage (1772-75) of the great English navigator Captain James Cook that convincing proof of an Antarcic region was substantiated. It's terribly difficult to include them all here, but the explorers mentioned are among my greatest heroes:  
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