Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
During the past decade alone, most of what we learned and accepted as scientific fact a mere twenty or
thirty years ago has now either been radically revised or flatly refuted. Such basics as the age of mankind
and the makeup of the universe have gotten major rewrites because of significant discoveries in recent
years.
One of the most serious popular misconceptions about science and scientists is that these folks with
white jackets and lots of pens in their shirt pockets know it all. Any self-respecting scientist or engineer
will be the first to dismiss that notion with utter conviction.
Here is one notable example of how scientific advances can shake up the way we think. Look at Chris-
topher Columbus again. You may have laughed when you read the words that open this chapter about his
idea that the world was shaped like a pear.
Well, the joke's on you.
One of the things we learned when the
Vanguard
satellite, launched in March 1958, went into orbit
was that the earth is not a sphere, as we learned in grade school—a “fact” we have accepted since the days
of Newton. In fact, astronomer John O'Keefe determined from
Vanguard
's orbit that the earth is slightly
pear-shaped, with a bulge in the Southern Hemisphere—though not to the extent Columbus imagined.
But give him credit. At least on this, Columbus was basically right!
Geographic Voices
From
The Tempest
, by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in it.
Spoken by Miranda, the beautiful daughter of Prospero, when she first sees a young man, these lines
are from a play that is a wonderful example of the intersection of geography, history, and art.
The Tempest
,
one of Shakespeare's last plays, was written around 1611. It is the tale of Prospero, a duke who has been
overthrown and banished to an island where he rules with magical powers. When the men who overthrew
him pass near the island, Prospero raises a storm that wrecks their ship and casts them ashore.
The source of the play was an actual incident, widely publicized in England at the time. An expedition
of nine ships bound for the newly established colony of Virginia set out from England in May 1609. The
flagship,
Sea-Adventure
, was wrecked near Bermuda. All on board were saved, however, and built new
ships on the island, eventually reaching Virginia a year later. The accounts of their adventures were sent to
England and published.
Shakespeare wasn't the only one to find inspiration in such a notable shipwreck tale. A little more than
one hundred years later, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) published his famous novel
Robinson Crusoe
(1719).
Like
The Tempest,
the story of a castaway, Defoe's tale was based on the actual experiences of Alexander
Selkirk, a Scottish seaman. While serving on a privateering expedition in 1704, Selkirk was set ashore at
his own request on Más a Tierra, one of the Juan Fernández Islands in the Pacific, four hundred miles west
of Chile. He was rescued in 1709 and returned to England, where he became a celebrity and achieved lit-
erary immortality when Defoe based his timeless story on Selkirk's strange adventures.
In fact, the period of the great European age of discovery inspired a number of other literary classics.
One of them introduced a new word into the English language: Thomas More's
Utopia
(1516). Inspired by
the tales of wonder being brought to Europe every day with each arriving boat from the new worlds across
the Atlantic, More used the form of a traveler's tale to set out his vision of a perfect, altruistic society. In
Utopia there was no private ownership. In this highly democratic republic located somewhere off the coast
of South America, the most worthy goal for the people was the “leisure” to pursue learning and self-im-
