How did Christopher Columbus know where he was going? He
didn’t have an accurate map of the American continents, and he couldn’t log on
to MapQuest to get directions. The truth is, Christopher Columbus didn’t know
exactly where he was going, but he had a pretty good idea of the direction.
Modern technology has virtually turned the tricky art of
navigation into child’s play. You can use the internet to get directions to
and from almost any location. There are Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that
are able to tell you the specific coordinates (within millimeters of
accuracy) of your position, regardless of where you are. Obviously, when
you have this device at your fingertips, it makes it much more difficult to get
lost.
There is another factor that has taken the challenge out of
navigation. Over the past few centuries, almost every corner of the earth has
been explored, surveyed, and mapped out. Whether you are in the United States, Africa, or even Iceland, there are plenty of detailed maps to help guide you. The
early explorers didn’t have this luxury.
During the “Age of Exploration” (starting in the late 15th
century), explorers knew a great deal about Europe, and they may have had
bits of information about parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.
The rest of the world was a complete mystery. In a way, certain parts of the
earth were as mysterious to people in 1500s as the far reaches of space are to
people today (the next Age of Exploration may include space travel).
Let’s go back to Christopher Columbus. How did he know
where he was going? Simple—he didn’t. That’s why we call him an “explorer.”
Like other explorers at the time, Columbus was going into uncharted territory
to see what he could find. When Columbus “discovered” America, he was actually looking for a westward trade route to Asia. During his first voyage, he
didn’t even realize that he had stumbled upon a knew continent.
Even though they were journeying into the unknown, the early
explorers still needed to be able navigators. They always traveled in a
planned direction, and charted the areas that they came across in great
detail. And, of course, they needed to be able to find their way back home
when the exploring was done.
Without the age of modern technology, sailors in the 14th
and 15th century had to resort to other tricks of the trade. At the
time, an able navigator also had to be an able astronomer. He could plot his
location by noting the position of the stars, moon, or the sun at different
times of the day.
The navigator had to understand nature, as well. He could
tell how far he was from land by recording the different sea animals and birds
that approached the ship. He also monitored the tides and wind for hints on
his location, and to determine what conditions lay ahead.
The biggest aid to navigation during the Age of Exploration
was the same device that is still our most important tool today. The compass.
This device was first used in ancient China, although the rest of the world did
not learn of it until the 14th century. Using the natural magnetic
field of the earth, a compass needle always points northward. This makes it
easy to determine the navigating directions (i.e. north, south, east, and
west), and allows a traveler to stay on a steady course.
