Here's a question for you: What can one possibly learn about climate change from the records of an 18th century expeditionary voyage to the Arctic?

At noon, Thursday, Dec. 17, the former director of the Washington State Historical Society, David Nicandri, will explore this question and other interesting revelations from his upcoming book, James Cook in the Icy Latitudes: The Origins of Polar Climatology and the Evolution of the Northwest Passage.

Nicandri is the author of several books about Washington State History and the history of the Pacific Northwest. In James Cook in the Icy Latitudes, he expands on an essay from a collection he edited entitled Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage.

"I was intrigued by the possibility of doing an environmental history of Cook in the high latitudes where he spent most of his sailing time, as opposed to the tropical zone which, on both his second and third voyage, was not on his discovery agenda but merely served as his staging ground," Nicandri said. "In order to make sense of Cook's third voyage, I also spend a lot of time on his second voyage, wherein he circumnavigated Antarctica.  In this sense, I've gone completely against Cook orthodoxy and typecasting by positing him as the world's first polar explorer.  The critical element for understanding his career isn't sand; it's ice."

During his research, Nicandri noticed something interesting. When Cook and his crew arrived at the Bering Strait in 1778, they were unable to navigate it due to the thickness of the ice. However,  due the changing climate, they would have had no trouble sailing through the Strait in 2015 at the same time of year. Nicandri explores the significance of this finding to our present day understanding of climate change.

James Cook in the Icy Latitudes calls into question the popular anthropological paradigm -"No encounter, no voyage" - by giving Cook, who is more widely known for his tropical expeditions, far more credit for our modern understanding of world geography than is generally attributed.

While his latest book has yet to be published, Nicandri hopes "to have it published in 2018, in time for the 250th anniversary of (Cook's) first Pacific Voyage to Tahiti," he said.

Nicandri's Dec. 17 presentation is part of a series of lunch hour history talks presented by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation. It will be held in the historic Schmidt House, located at 330 Schmidt Place in Tumwater. Along with readings from his new book, the lecture will include slides of historic maps from the collection of the Washington State Historical Society.

All of the Olympia Tumwater Foundation's "Brown Bag" history lectures are free of charge and recorded for later airing on TCTV, channel 26 in Thurston County. Check the website for days and times: www.tctv.net/channel_26.php.

Nicandri served as the director of the Washington State Historical Society from 1987 until his retirement in 2011. He has also been an adjunct professor at Evergreen State College and is a former curator for the Washington State Capitol Museum.

MONTHLY HISTORY TALK: THE VOYAGES OF CAPTAIN COOK BY DAVID NICANDRI, Thursday, Dec. 17, noon, Olympic Tumwater Foundation's Schmidt House, 330 Schmidt Place, Tumwater, Free, 360.786.8117, www.olytumfoundation.org