The era of European and American voyages of scientific exploration follows the Age of Discovery and is inspired by a new confidence in science and reason that arises in the Age of Enlightenment.

Maritime expeditions in the Age of Discovery had been a means of expanding colonial empires, establishing new trade routes and extending diplomatic and trade relations to new territories, but with the Enlightenment scientific curiosity becomes a new motive for exploration to add to the commercial and political ambitions of the past.