TRANSPORTATION AND EXPLORATION

 

Transportation in the Renaissance

 

     Overland transportation

         -- became more extensive as landlocked states develop

         -- horses made individuals more mobile

              -- farmers could get produce to market

         Heavy loads, e.g. artillery, a problem

         Roads virtually non-existent

 

     Wagons

         2-wheeled carts had limited capacity

         4-wheeled wagons hard to maneuver, jolted

         Solutions: the movable forecarriage, suspension systems

 

     Ship building in the Renaissance

 

         Sewn planking -- India and Arab countries

              better flexibility, allowed beaching

 

         Iron nails on a frame -- Europe and China

              stronger for ocean travel

              larger construction

              problem of rust

 

Exploration

 

     Motivation

         -- Ottoman Empire closed overland route to Orient

n   But desire for Oriental spices was established

 

     Navigation

         Lattitude: Navigation by stars started around 1480 with quadrant

              -- only useful for lattitude, hard to use at sea, impractical near equator, impossible below it

n   magnetic compass introduced

 

         Longitude virtually insoluble

              best method: dead reckoning

         An overview of early navigation methods: http://www.mariner.org/age/earlynav.html

         An explanation of dead reckoning: http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=04851000

 

 

 

     Map Making
 
         Portolan Charts

         Grid lines introduced for longitude and lattitude

         Ptolemy's Geography

         Terra incognita (instead of the end of the earth)

         Mercator projection in 1569

 

     Sails

 

         Square sails on European and Chinese ships

              suited large ships

              only allowed sailing with the wind

 

         Lateen (triangular) sails on Middle Eastern and African ships

              suited smaller boats and travel on calm waters

              allowed sailing into the wind

 

     The Caravel and the Carrack

         European innovation

         Square and Lateen sails on same ship

         Sternpost rudder

         Stable in high seas, manoeuvrable in adverse winds

         A site on ship development in the Age of Exploration, including the development of the Caravel and navigation issues: http://www.ucalgary.ca/HIST/tutor/eurvoya/ship.html

 

 

     Columbus

         1492

         Used caravels and carracks

         Used Toscanelli's map, an updated version of Ptolemy's

 

         Faults of map:

              Asia too big to 105o

              Degrees of longitude too small by 60%