Renaissance+Science


 * **​Mariner's Astrolabe** || **Caravel** || **World Map** ||
 * [[image:astrolabe.jpg width="236" height="244" align="center"]] || [[image:caravel.jpg width="297" height="230" align="center"]] || [[image:world_map.jpg width="335" height="229" align="center"]] ||
 * **Before Europeans could do any more exploring, technological advances had to occur. Sailing was difficult because in the 14th century, sailors were afraid of going anywhere and having to lose sight of the coastline because they were worried that they would get lost.

The picture shown above is of the Mariner's Astrolabe. This device allowed sailors to keep track of the ship's position by relating it to the position of the stars, or by helping it find its latitude. Now, using this tool as well as some others such as the compass, these explorers were no longer afraid of sailing away from the coastline.

This led to many new explorations such as Christopher Columbus', which took him across the Atlantic and to the Americas. Another example is Vasco de Gama, who used the astrolabe to travel around the Cape of Good Hope and all the way to India. Both of these explorations brought many new items to Europe such as corn and potatoes from the Americas and a new trade route to India from de Gama's journey. Without the astrolabe, these explorations wouldn't have been possible (since explorers would have most likely gotten lost at sea), and all of these new things would not have reached Europe until a much later time in history.** || **To make many of the journeys that explorers made during the Age of Exploration, a new ship needed to be created. Old ships were not strong enough for the explorations that explorers were making, and most were not large enough either. The picture shown above is of a caravel and is a major contributing factor to the explorations made during the Age of Exploration.

The caravel was a sailing ship with three masts. It was much more maneuverable than previous ships due to its combination of triangular and square sails. It was also sturdy enough to make the long ocean crossing, unlike boats in the past. This combination made a much better sailing ship that explorers used in their journeys to new lands.

Without the caravel and many other new technologies, many of the things that were discovered during the Age of Exploration would not have been found until much later in time. For example, if the caravel wasn't created, Columbus would not have found the Americas because his ships wouldn't have been able to cross the Atlantic. This would mean that many new crops wouldn't have been found and the Atlantic slave trade could have been delayed.** || **During the Age of Exploration, many explorers were afraid to travel away from the coast line in worry of what lay ahead. They couldn't tell what they were going to run into because at the time, the best world map had only three continents on it, with the center of the world being Jerusalem. It wasn't until Ptolomey's world map was discovered that explorers could better prepare themselves for their journeys. The Greek astronomer's original copy was published in C.E. 150, but was eventually lost. In 1482 though, it was found again and reproduced.

This new world map was useful in many ways. First, it was a complete map of the world that had not ever existed before. It also used a unique gridding system that showed the curve of the earth on a 2-dimensional surface. Pablo Toscanelli realized what this gridding system could do and used it to create the first mapping coordinates, or latitude and longitude.

Because of this new world map, explorers knew what lay ahead and weren't afraid to travel. It also became a model for many new mapping ideas to come later. Because of all of this, the Americas were discovered, which had a lasting effect on the world politically, economically, and socially.** ||