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When French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville landed at Tahiti in 1768, he immediately named the island ‘La Nouvelle Cythère’ (New Cytheria) after the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.

The origin of Aphrodite’s name is unknown but according to the poet Hesiod it derived from ‘aphros’ – Greek for ‘foam’ – suggesting her full name meant “risen from foam”. Aphrodite’s Roman equivalent was the goddess Venus.

In the most famous version of her myth, Aphrodite floated ashore on a scallop shell, as depicted in Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.

In Darwin’s day, biologists travelled the world to identify and classify plants and animals. They collected specimens and named them, grouping them in related categories to show how life on Earth is organised.

But today, support for taxonomy – the system of species classification pioneered by 18th century ‘superstar’ biologist Carl Linnaeus – is dwindling.

The lack of funding isn’t just an esoteric problem for a few people in labs and university classrooms. It affects children (and likely their parents) as much as professional scientists.

Taxonomy “has suffered somewhat because we’re not taking kids out into the world, showing them the world,” says one present day biologist currently working on a project called Venus, designed to find new species on the ocean floor. “Children haven’t changed. The sense of wonder is no different in the modern child.”

But nature has to compete with TV and the internet, and structured play. The ramifications potentially run deep. In the words of another biologist: “It is unrealistic to expect people to care for the local environment if they are unaware of the organisms that live in it.”

The Australian National Maritime Museum is offering 35 people the chance to sail aboard its replica of the ship Captain James Cook voyaged in to Tahiti in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus.

The ballot for a spot on the HMB Endeavour has already opened. Hopefuls have till 10 February to submit their applications and the winners will be chosen ten days later.

The ship departs Sydney on 31 May and drops anchor off Lord Howe Island on 5 June in time to see this year’s transit begin next day at 08.15 local time.

It really is the opportunity of a lifetime since the next Venus transit won’t happen again till December 2117. Also, it has to be said, Lord Howe Island really does look rather nice.

For more information and to apply click here. There’s also a nice write up here.

On 22 January 1761, the French astronomer Chappe d’Auteroche arrived in Warsaw. He was on his way to Tobolsk in Russia, to observe the transit of Venus on 6 June that year.

“Chappe’s diary entries from Warsaw show that he was not only an astronomer but also a connoisseur of women – describing in detail their dress and ‘undress’,” notes Andrea Wulf, in this latest extract from her upcoming book ‘Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens.’

“No matter how difficult his voyages, he always found time to investigate women with the taxonomic precision of a scientist,” she writes. “No matter how cold or exhausted he was, he remained an expert of the female sex and remarked appreciatively on their sparking eyes, the ‘slenderness of their waists’, and ‘well-shaped servant maids’. The women in Warsaw, he declared, were beautiful and sociable but also ‘strictly virtuous’.”

As Astronomer Royal and president of the Royal Society respectively Nevil Maskelyne and Joseph Banks had a long and complex relationship, spanning more than forty years.

The two giants of late 18th century science were key members of the Board of Longitude and during the formative years of their friendship they were close, sometimes sharing smutty jokes in their letters to one another.