The Library of Original Sources, Vol 5

Contents:

Show Summary

The Geographical Discoveries

Modern times, though heralded by Guttenberg’s invention of printing in 1438, and by the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the resulting diffusion of Greek scholars throughout western Europe, were actually ushered in by Columbus’s discovery of the western hemisphere, Magellan’s trip round the world, the Copernican theory, and the great revolution in religion.

The discovery of Columbus in effect laid open a new world before the eyes of Europe as truly as if some one should now open up a route to Mars. Five years later Vasco da Gama found the way round the cape of Good Hope to India. In 1519 Magellan crossed the Pacific, and after his death his men completed the circumnavigation of the globe. This proved forever the hypothesis of the rotundity of the earth. These three expeditions, taken together, metamorphosed the geographical ideas of Europe, opened a vast field for effort, weakened the church fathers as scientific authorities, and broke the spell of self-complacent, all-knowing ignorance that had held Europe in its thrall.

Contents:

Related Resources

None available for this document.

Download Options


Title: The Library of Original Sources, Vol 5

Select an option:

*Note: A download may not start for up to 60 seconds.

Email Options


Title: The Library of Original Sources, Vol 5

Select an option:

Email addres:

*Note: It may take up to 60 seconds for for the email to be generated.

Chicago: "The Geographical Discoveries," The Library of Original Sources, Vol 5 in The Library of Original Sources, ed. Oliver J. Thatcher (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: University Research Extension Co., 1907), Original Sources, accessed May 1, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=61N6QCVDQT9YIV9.

MLA: . "The Geographical Discoveries." The Library of Original Sources, Vol 5, in The Library of Original Sources, edited by Oliver J. Thatcher, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, University Research Extension Co., 1907, Original Sources. 1 May. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=61N6QCVDQT9YIV9.

Harvard: , 'The Geographical Discoveries' in The Library of Original Sources, Vol 5. cited in 1907, The Library of Original Sources, ed. , University Research Extension Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Original Sources, retrieved 1 May 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=61N6QCVDQT9YIV9.