Despite the fact that he participated in several buccaneering voyages, the English seaman William Dampier, who was active in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, may be regarded as the first to travel mainly to satisfy scientific curiosity. He wrote: “I was well satisfied enough knowing that, the further we went, the more knowledge and experience I should get, which was the main thing I regarded.” His book A New Voyage Round the World, published in English in 1697, further popularized the idea of a great southern continent.