The basic facts around the explorations of Christopher Columbus are known to most: under the patronage of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Castille, Columbus set off across the Atlantic in search of the East Indies (South and Southeast Asia), but instead landed in what would later be known as the West Indies, specifically the …

Continue reading “Columbus and the 1492 hurricane season”

In the 21st century, it’s possible that the conquistador Francisco de Orellana is best known from the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which Orellana is said to have sought the fictional city of Akator, and in whose grave Jones finds the titular crystal skull. But Orellana’s adventures make a …

Continue reading “Francisco de Orellana: Crystal skulls, Amazons, and the Land of Cinnamon”

The earliest explorers were financially motivated; Columbus, Drake, Hudson (among many others) were looking for wealth, whether through trade or plunder. But as the world became better known, journeys of exploration took an increasing focus on scientific discovery. Captain Cook’s voyages were commissioned for scientific exploration (though Cook’s imperial claims for the British Empire were …

Continue reading “Exploration & Science – Alexander von Humboldt”

Before orbital satellites, mapping large areas was a difficult task. At sea, after the problem of calculating longitude had been solved in the 18th century, it was possible to accurately map positions. On land, where the horizon is uneven, astronomical observations are more difficult, but territories can be accurately measured using trigonometry and other mathematics …

Continue reading “The Great Trigonometrical Survey”

Like Marco Polo, another long sojourner in the Mongolian Empire was Muhammad Ibn Battuta, who, in 1325 CE, set out from his home in Tangiers on the Hajj, and ended up spending about 25 years on the road traveling through Asia and Africa, mostly within the realms of Islam, which included much of the former …

Continue reading “The Fantastic Other (Ibn Battuta)”

A long vacation might last a month, which allows plenty of time to travel to the opposite side of the globe. A sabbatical might last a year, allowing time to live in another land. That presumes air travel, of course. Before that, ocean liners took days to make transatlantic crossings. The sailing explorers—Columbus, Magellan, Cook and …

Continue reading “Marco Polo – Life on the road”