The Story of Geographical Discovery: How the World Became Known

by Joseph Jacobs

Before telling how the ancients got to know that part of the world with which they finally became acquainted when the Roman Empire was at its greatest extent it is as well to get some idea of the successive stages of their knowledge leaving for the next chapter the story of how that knowledge was obtained. As in most branches of organised knowledge it is to the Greeks that we owe our acquaintance with ancient views of this subject.

Genres: History, Geography

132 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 2005

About the author

Joseph Jacobs was an Australian folklorist, literary critic, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English Folklore. His work went on to popularize some of the worlds best known versions of English fairy tales including "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Goldilocks and the three bears", "The Three Little Pigs", "Jack the Giant Killer" and "The History of Tom Thumb". He published his English fairy tale collections: English Fairy Tales in 1890 and More English Fairytales in 1894 but also went on after and in between both books to publish fairy tales collected from continental Europe as well as Jewish, Celtic and Indian Fairytales which made him one of the most popular writers of fairytales for the English language. Jacobs was also an editor for journals and books on the subject of folklore which included editing the Fables of Bidpai and the Fables of Aesop, as well as articles on the migration of Jewish folklore. He also edited editions of "The Thousand and One Nights". He went on to join The Folklore Society in England and became an editor of the society journal Folklore. Joseph Jacobs also contributed to the Jewish Encyclopedia.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_J...

Reviews

[Amogh Thakur]

Beautiful book, very informative. Shows the curios side of mankind with respect to Geography and exploration. Loved the way in which he various discoveries are described.

A really good read if you are interested in how the world was discovered from the European perspective. Thanks to my friend who recommended it :)

[Trisha Vivien Estiller]

In history, all roads led to Rome or away from it. No wonder the world map we know is Euro-centered. It’s insane how massive their colonial power was, and how its influence still shapes the world today… largely because they ventured out first.

It’s crazy how we take modern technology for granted. Basic things like Street View, compasses, maps, and even the fact that America and Africa exist, and that the earth is not flat.

This book made me realize that people back then were living a One Piece kind of life. What do you mean some people dedicated their lives to searching for El Dorado, the mythical golden city? What do you mean people actually set sail into the unknown despite the high mortality rate? Damn… the Magellan expedition alone had around a 90% mortality rate. They must have had insane life stories. I wish they had cameras and vlogs back then so we could know their humor and what their personalities were really like… not just the typical image of savage, bearded men chewing on meat and chugging beer.

The most interesting person I came to know through this book was Pigafetta. He was part of the Magellan expedition, among the first group to circumnavigate the world. Magellan himself didn’t make it… he died before completing the journey. But Pigafetta, later known as the expedition’s chronicler, somehow survived, and it’s largely thanks to his records that we know so much about their voyage. That made me dig deeper, and I found out he basically signed himself up voluntarily for the sake of adventure. What a life. He was literally just out there doing side quests. The tourist who tagged along and somehow survived the mutiny and wars, even scurvy. What a life XD

I wonder how they even calculated how vast the Earth was without satellites. People in history were far more advanced and skillful than we give them credit for. They were courageous enough to venture into the unknown. Back then, traveling and “discovering” the world was an actual profession.

But it wasn’t all sunshine. These voyages were driven by conquest. Apparently, these expeditions weren’t really about proving the Earth wasn’t flat lmaoo, nor were they purely about scientific discovery. As the book said, “Men wanted to know for two chief reasons: they wanted to conquer, or they wanted to trade. Or perhaps we can reduce the motives to one… they wanted to conquer because they wanted to trade.”

In the end, it was wealth, fame, and power. Early capitalism pushing people to the edge of the world. It was a nice story. It feels like a great adventure.

[Galicius]

Good review of the history of geographical explorations.
There are fewer details here than in Verne's "The Great Travels & Travelers (Illustrated Edition): The Exploration of the World - Complete Series: Discover the World through the Eyes of the Greatest Explorers in History" volume on explorations but this is a later publication with additional names of explorers and includes Africa which Verne’s does not.

[Yanko Tsvetkov]

It's interesting to point out that in 1898, when this book was first published, there were still some minor blank spots on Earth's surface that remained unexplored. Another interesting thing is that Joseph Jacobs is a folklorist, and not necessarily a historian, which is what probably makes this book an easy read, since it lacks factual dryness and the main objective is exactly what is stated in the title, namely to tell a story. Last but not least, as a work conceived and published during the height of European colonialism, it obviously carries a lot of its shortcomings, one of which is the limited understanding of what civilization means. One the other hand, such shortcomings give us a better understanding of the age and a perspective on the described events which is uncontaminated by our contemporary points of view.