Mapping Our World: Cartographers & Explorers
Stories of those who mapped unknown territories, from ancient sky-watchers to modern ocean explorers, revealing how we came to understand our planet's geography.
- Cartography
- Exploration
- Geography
- Mapping
- Discovery
- Navigation
Some of the stories included
Peary vs Cook: Who Reached the North Pole?Peary and Cook each claimed the North Pole in 1909, and a 1988 review found Peary likely missed it by 30 to 60 miles.
Christopher ColumbusThe life of Christopher Columbus, from his 1492 contract with Spain's monarchs and first Atlantic crossing to his arrest in chains and death still believing he had reached Asia.
The Race to the South PoleTwo rival teams led by Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott battle deadly cold to reach the South Pole between 1911 and 1912.
The Lewis and Clark ExpeditionThe epic journey of over two years to explore the American West and find a water route to the Pacific Ocean.
The Cassini Maps of FranceFour generations of one family measured France with triangles and produced the first accurate map of a whole country.
Mapping the Deep: The Quest to Understand the OceanFrom an ancient Greek's weighted rope to modern robots, this is the story of the quest to map the ocean floor, revealing a hidden world.
Eratosthenes Measures the EarthAround 240 BC, a librarian in Alexandria measured the Earth's size using only a shadow, a well, and some clever geometry.
Zheng He's Treasure FleetsBetween 1405 and 1433, Admiral Zheng He's massive ships sailed to Africa, but China then let its fleet rot.
More like this
The Formation of the Grand CanyonHow the Grand Canyon formed: nearly two billion years of rock, a rising plateau and the Colorado River cutting down through it.
The Danakil DepressionIn Ethiopia's Danakil Depression, a continent is splitting apart, creating some of the harshest conditions on Earth.
Machu PicchuMachu Picchu, the Inca royal estate built for Emperor Pachacuti in the 1400s: how it was built, why it was abandoned, and who really lived there.
The Boxing Day TsunamiHow the December 2004 Sumatra earthquake set off the deadliest tsunami on record, what happened from Aceh to Thailand and Somalia, and the Indian Ocean warning system built afterwards.
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