Carl Waldman – Encyclopedia of Exploration

Автор: Carl Waldman
Название книги: Encyclopedia of Exploration
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Научно-популярная литература
Страницы: 1426
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

A two-volume reference to the history of human exploration over land, across and under seas, and into space. Volume I: The Explorers is a who was who of world explorers, while Volume II: Places, Technologies, and Cultural Trends covers other significant aspects of the history of exploration.

The term exploration comprises the concepts of traveling and seeking. Discovery,
a term associated with exploration, refers to “finding.” But the latter
term has often been misused. One cannot “find” or “discover” a land that
is already inhabited. But one can “discover” knowledge of that land and take
it back to one’s place of origin and pass on that knowledge. The history of exploration
can therefore be characterized as the record of the diffusion of
knowledge. The knowledge most relevant to exploration is geographic; how
the world came to be mapped is thus central to chronicling exploration. In
exploratory expeditions, information passes back and forth between continents
and between cultures, affecting the realities both of the exploring and of the
explored.
People have participated in exploration for a variety of reasons over the
ages. Two basic human traits—curiosity and the desire for personal accomplishment—
must be taken into account in all types of exploration. More specific
motives include geographic and scientific inquiry, seeking a new
homeland, conquest and/or colonization, commerce and profit, religious zeal,
finding others who have gone missing, and searching for new literary or artistic
themes. Those who explore come from diverse social and vocational backgrounds,
among them, navigators, sailors, soldiers, officials, diplomats,
colonists, missionaries, religious scholars, merchants, hunters, fur trappers,
whalers, sealers, pirates, guides, interpreters, tribal leaders, cartographers, writers,
painters, naturalists, geologists, historians, archaeologists, oceanographers,
astronomers, aviators, astronauts, and mountain climbers. Some individuals
contributed to exploration by promoting, organizing, and financing expeditions
or by making technological breakthroughs, although they themselves
may not have ventured far from their homelands.
Explorers lead fascinating, driven lives, and the stories of their expeditions
are filled with adventure and danger. Many individuals have died in the pursuit
of their dreams. Some have inflicted death, either directly or indirectly,
on fellow explorers and especially on indigenous peoples. It can be said that explorers
are at the head of the historical curve, the forerunners of good or bad.
It also can be said that exploration is the starting point of many historical and
cultural themes.
The explorers and the particular expeditions discussed in this work are
only part of the story of exploration. Many more individuals have a role in
the exploring and charting of the Earth and, in recent decades, outer space. The general topics examined and the terms defined offer some context to the
field of exploration, but it is important to remember that the scope of the story
of exploration includes the entire historical record, and its sphere of action
encompasses the entire world and the solar system. So, in chronicling exploration,
particular time periods, cultures, activities, and technologies are given
great weight. But one should perceive exploration as a single window into humankind’s
larger journey through time.
Volume I of the Encyclopedia of Exploration presents biographical entries
about explorers, organized alphabetically. Volume II, also organized alphabetically,
presents various subjects related to exploration: types of exploration,
activities relating to exploration, groupings of peoples known for exploration,
historical periods, organizations, legends, places, routes, natural phenomena,
cartographic terms, oceanographic equipment, navigational tools, and crafts
used in transportation.
In the biographical entries of Volume I, expeditions are more likely to be
described in detail than in Volume II’s entries. At the beginning of each biographical
entry can be found the following: alternate names and spellings of
names, birth and death dates (when known), nationality (and, if different, the
country for whom explorations were carried out), occupations, places of the world explored, and familial relationships to other explorers with entries. After
an opening discussion of the individual’s background, there follows a description
of his or her career in exploration and, if applicable, voyages and routes.
Each entry closes with a summary of the person’s accomplishments and his or
her broader relevance to the history of exploration.
Some of the entries in Volume II provide overviews of historical or geographic
information; others are definitions of terms relating to exploration.
Geographic terms include continents, regions, islands, capes, oceans, straits,
mountain ranges, mountains, mountain passes, deserts, rivers, cities, and
routes. In addition to the obvious choices for geographic entries on continents
and oceans, which provide overviews, some places have been selected as
entries because they generated many expeditions or are central to periods of exploratory
history. It should be kept in mind that other such places without
their own entries have fascinating stories of exploration attached to them;
many such stories can be found in Volume I (see the cumulative index).
Cross-references, indicated by a term set in SMALL CAPITAL letters the first
time it appears in an entry, are meant to guide a reader/researcher through the
complex material in both volumes. The cross-references run across both volumes;
the reader should remember to look for entries on people in Volume I
and all other entries in Volume II. A reader should understand that for the sake
of convenience, not all terms that are discussed in entries in Volume II are presented
as cross-references. For example, the terms Africa and Atlantic Ocean are
mentioned in passing throughout the book, yet their entries appear as “Africa,
exploration of ” or “Atlantic Ocean, exploration of the” and are not necessarily
cross-referenced. It is unlikely that a reader will choose to look up Africa for
a general discussion of its geography and exploration every time the term relates
peripherally to an entry. But the reader should know that Volume II includes
overview entries of every continent, as well as the Arctic region and the
Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. More-specific places that have their own
entries, such as the Himalayas and the Mississippi River, are cross-referenced.
Certain terms, such as colonization, are not cross-referenced since the heading
might appear as “colonization and exploration.” A glance at the appendices organized
by categories or the List of Entries for Volume II will help clarify questions
of organization. Each volume also lists all the entries in both volumes in
the “List of Entries” in the front matter.
Appendices in Volume I include a list of explorers with entries organized
by region explored (with some names listed more than once, plus a section on
cartographers, geographers, and sponsors where relevant); a list of explorers
with entries organized chronologically by birth date; a list of explorers with entries
organized by sponsoring country, or, when no sponsoring nation can be
cited, by nationality or native land; and a list of explorers with entries organized
by most relevant occupation. Appendices in Volume II include a
chronology based on the explorations of all the individuals in Volume I, a general
bibliography, and the already mentioned list of the entries organized by
categories. Each volume contains a general index of the material in that
volume.
Maps are essential tools in studies of exploration. The photographs of period
maps that accompany some of the entries in both volumes offer a
glimpse of the evolving cartographic view of the world. Original maps in an
appendix in Volume II serve to illustrate the subject matter. A bibliography,
in which books are listed by geographic and other general groupings, is provided
to encourage and facilitate additional study of the vast and fascinating
subject matter.