History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration

[Cypress]

My addition to Professor Liulevicius' list, is the purported circumnavigation of the continent of Africa by the Phoenicians in 600 BC, an extraordinary feat of navigation and exploration for that time.

History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration.

The Scientific Voyage of Pytheas the Greek – The originator of the scientific expedition. First Greek to leave the known world. Supposedly circumnavigated the Britain, traveled into the Baltic and northern Europe, may have made it to Iceland.

St. Brendan—The Travels of an Irish Monk - sailed the Atlantic in a tiny leather boat—sought God and fled the world’s corruptions,

Xuanzang’s Journey to the West - Alarmed at inconsistencies in the Buddhist texts available to him, Xuanzang embarked on an illegal holy pilgrimage to acquire authoritative teachings…. achieved celebrity status, and became the central character in the greatest classical Chinese novel.

Leif Eriksson the Lucky.

Marco Polo Visits China.

Ibn Battuta—Never the Same Route Twice - left Morocco in 1325 to make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, but discovered a craving for spiritual travel and returned home 24 years later after covering 75,000 miles in the network woven by Muslim civilization.

Portugal’s Great Leap Forward - How and why did tiny Portugal, a poor country, take to the seas, round the continent of Africa, hijack the Indian Ocean, and create a global empire?

The Enigmatic Christopher Columbus .

Magellan and the Advent of Globalization .

Henry Hudson—Death on the Ice - tragic failure ending in mutiny, murder, and a mystery that endures to this day: Henry Hudson’s 1610 voyage in search of the Northwest Passage to Asia, funded by two of the first multinational corporations.

Captain Cook Maps the World .

Alexander von Humboldt—Explorer Genius .

Jefferson Dispatches Lewis and Clark .

Sir John Franklin’s Epic Disaster - the doomed expedition of Sir John Franklin, who disappeared in 1845 along with his crew while searching for the Northwest Passage.

Antarctic Rivalries – Norway beats Britain to the South Pole.



Source credit: Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, University of Tennessee

 

[Mott the Hoople]

One notable voyage missing.

Armstrong and Aldrin land on the Moon and return to Earth safely.

 

[Cypress]

One notable voyage missing.

Armstrong and Aldrin land on the Moon and return to Earth safely.

No question about it.

I limited it to what I think historians would consider the "age of exploration", which by convention I think is supposed to have ended after the British/Norwegian/American expeditions reached the north and south poles in the early 20th century.

Apollo mission certainly is a landmark of modern space exploration.
And we still haven't even touch the deep ocean basins, which in some way is more alien that Mars. So that is obviously an area of future exploration. I might throw elbows to get a shot at going down in a deep submersible!

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Why limit it to the age of exploration? The Phoenician's were the first great voyagers/explorers and mapped out most of the Mediteranean and Africa. I agree with you on underwater exploration. The discovery or the Mariana's trench was a huge discovery. The fact that it sustained massive amounts of living organisms as those depths and pressure and minus sunlight was a revolutionary discovery and completely unexpected and forced scientist to give serious notice evidence that life could occur under inorganic conditions.

The Chinese made great explorations too and, in typical Chinsese fashion, destroyed all evidence and documents of those voyages. Give you an idea how entrenched xenophobia was in China until European colonialist forced them to open up.

In the late 14th century China and certain parts of Northern Europe were on the verge of the industrial revolution based on advances in iron and steel manufacturing. Europe invested in iron and steel, created the industrial revolution and conquered the world. China's rulers had the merging iron and steel industries shut down on the basis that such technological advancement permitted peasants and merchants to rise above their station in life. China then cut it self off from the rest of the world and were quickly surpassed by Europeans as the worlds most advanced and powerful civilizations. A situation that China stayed in until about 20 years ago.

 

[Cypress]

Why limit it to the age of exploration? The Phoenician's were the first great voyagers/explorers and mapped out most of the Mediteranean and Africa. I agree with you on underwater exploration. The discovery or the Mariana's trench was a huge discovery. The fact that it sustained massive amounts of living organisms as those depths and pressure and minus sunlight was a revolutionary discovery and completely unexpected and forced scientist to give serious notice evidence that life could occur under inorganic conditions.

The Chinese made great explorations too and, in typical Chinsese fashion, destroyed all evidence and documents of those voyages. Give you an idea how entrenched xenophobia was in China until European colonialist forced them to open up.

In the late 14th century China and certain parts of Northern Europe were on the verge of the industrial revolution based on advances in iron and steel manufacturing. Europe invested in iron and steel, created the industrial revolution and conquered the world. China's rulers had the merging iron and steel industries shut down on the basis that such technological advancement permitted peasants and merchants to rise above their station in life. China then cut it self off from the rest of the world and were quickly surpassed by Europeans as the worlds most advanced and powerful civilizations. A situation that China stayed in until about 20 years ago.

A nice contribution.

It is remarkable actually that more people have been to the Moon, than to the depths of the Challenger Deep and Marianas Trench.

It is completely mind-blowing that the Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa in the 6th century BC. According to Herodutus anyway - though there is circumstantial evidence suggesting it really did happen.

Western history seems to mostly overlook the watershed event of the Ming Dynasty's fleet of exploration in the 15th century.

I also think historians do not give nearly enough acknowledgment to the exploration skills of the ancient Polynesians, who navigated thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean in open deck boats, successfully locating and settling places like Hawaii and Easter Island.

 

[Sailor]

A nice contribution.

It is remarkable actually that more people have been to the Moon, than to the depths of the Challenger Deep and Marianas Trench.

It is completely mind-blowing that the Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa in the 6th century BC. According to Herodutus anyway - though there is circumstantial evidence suggesting it really did happen.

Western history seems to mostly overlook the watershed event of the Ming Dynasty's fleet of exploration in the 15th century.

I also think historians do not give nearly enough acknowledgment to the exploration skills of the ancient Polynesians, who navigated thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean in open deck boats, successfully locating and settling places like Hawaii and Easter Island.

I like your curiosity and open mindedness about this.

 

[headsup]

I am trying to be open-minded.

 

[Cypress]

I like your curiosity and open mindedness about this.

Very kind of you to say.
Carry on!

 

[Mott the Hoople]

I like your curiosity and open mindedness about this.

That's because he's never been locked on board a ship with no one but men for months at a time.

 

[Sailor]

That's because he's never been locked on board a ship with no one but men for months at a time.

HA! We have women onboard now Mott. I do remember when that was not the norm though!

 

[Adolf_Twitler]

I think America's several Moon Landings, Solar System Probes, and the Hubble telescope should have all been worthy mentions!

Just sayin'!

 

[Cypress]

That's because he's never been locked on board a ship with no one but men for months at a time.

It's the 21st century, man!

I have had girlfriends and know female work colleagues who are oceanographers - and from what it sounds like, there are a lot of chicks on those oceanographic expeditions!

More importantly, I would also hope they keep a lot of beer on board for those expeditions.

 

[Cypress]

I think America's several Moon Landings, Solar System Probes, and the Hubble telescope should have all been worthy mentions!

Just sayin'!

As a space geek, I salute your choices.

I do not begrudge George Dumbya Bush or Trumpf when they blather about missions to Mars. Because a manned Mission to Mars would not only be the most epic chapter of human exploration ever - it would just be bloody cool!

 

[Adolf_Twitler]

As a space geek, I salute your choices.

I do not begrudge George Dumbya Bush or Trumpf when they blather about missions to Mars. Because a manned Mission to Mars would not only be the most epic chapter of human exploration ever - it would just be bloody cool!

Since Molecular Oxygen is only known to exist here on earth, and since man and rockets require it, I don't believe we will ever send a man to Mars.

Because there will never be a spacecraft able to reserve enough oxygen for a return trip, and you would not be able to transport enough oxygen to sustain a man's life for as long as it would take to get him back home either!

It would take over 300 days in space going and another 300 days coming back!

 

[Mott the Hoople]

It's the 21st century, man!

I have had girlfriends and know female work colleagues who are oceanographers - and from what it sounds like, there are a lot of chicks on those oceanographic expeditions!

More importantly, I would also hope they keep a lot of beer on board for those expeditions.

Beer prevents scurvy

 

[Mott the Hoople]

As a space geek, I salute your choices.

I do not begrudge George Dumbya Bush or Trumpf when they blather about missions to Mars. Because a manned Mission to Mars would not only be the most epic chapter of human exploration ever - it would just be bloody cool!

Given the safety considerations and cost you have to ask if we need to have manned exploration. Initially they could only get in the way.

 

[Cypress]

Given the safety considerations and cost you have to ask if we need to have manned exploration. Initially they could only get in the way.

Yes, manned space travel to Mars obviously needs to remain an aspirational goal, a vision.

Until the technology and political will power exist to make it reasonably possible. I for one think it should be an international effort.

What I can say is that the Apollo mission paid dividends that we rarely acknowledge today. Whole generations of boys and girls, young men and women decided to become scientists and engineers after being inspired by our Moon program. And that undoubtedly paid dividends in spades to our nation.

In the meantime, unmanned probes is clearly the way to go, and NASA being smarter than me, obviously has that figured out and are proceeding accordingly.