History House

Palomar · 2004-06-05 09:33:06

http://www.historyhouse.com]Click

*Good web site, if you're into history. Has Forum for discussion (their previous forum was down for quite some time; they've fixed and updated it).

New books reviewed, articles, etc.

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2004-06-05 15:28:56

Just had a chance to quickly skim it over, looks promising. The article on NATO and the French was particulalrly entertaining.

Josh Cryer · 2004-06-06 06:45:22

Hmm, but is it just me, or was the whole "the French lost millions in WWI which caused them to be unable to fight another war front" part missing from their critique? Just wondering. My history is of course shabby, but yeah. Please enlighten me.

dicktice · 2004-06-06 13:57:02

Yes, because the Great War (WWI) cost both France and Britain the better part of a generation of their most promising manhood. Twenty years wasn't long enough to regenerate the "heart" to lose another whole generation. The British had their island situation as a natural bastion, whereas the French had their Maginot line, which was designed to fight the last war. They survived because they capitulated. The treaty, on the other hand, gave Nazi Germany "heart" to invade. I think there's a lesson there, somewhere, but does it apply to today's situation--anyone?

Palomar · 2004-06-07 11:37:41

*How did 16th and 17th century explorers manage to make world maps?? ???

There's a 17th-century world map (albeit not entirely complete...NW Canada and Alaska are absent) reproduced twice inside both covers of the book about William Dampier I'm reading. Can distinctly see outlines of Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, South America, British Isles, etc., etc. I've seen reproductions of those old maps before, of course...but how did they manage to make them, does anyone know? Will ask at History House too.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-03-16 14:47:34

*Thought I'd mentioned William Dampier here previously (see post above this one).

I'm beginning a biography series about Dampier's adventures, discoveries, scientific observations, etc., (yes he was also a buccaneer) at my http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ageofvoltaire/]Age of Voltaire Yahoo! group.

It's going to be a bit slow, perhaps 4 posts pertaining to Dampier per month, but will be quality stuff. I started the thread this past weekend.

No obligation. No need to ever post or etc.; can just read as the posts come in.

However, -must- subscribe via a Yahoo! account or regular e-mail subscription. Sorry, I won't double post at New Mars (too time consuming) and that'd be presuming lots of people are interested anyway.

Thought I'd mention it.

--Cindy

::EDIT:: If you have a Yahoo! e-mail account, you probably (should) know how to subscribe via e-groups: Get into your Yahoo! mail account, click on "Join This Group" via the link above, go from there.

If you don't have a Yahoo! e-mail account, enter the following address into a new e-mail via your regular account:

ageofvoltaire-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

And type "Subscribe" in the Subject Line. Send. Follow instructions returned to you by automatic mailer. (I haven't joined a group like that in ages, so don't recall the specifics).

Grypd · 2005-03-16 17:31:08

*How did 16th and 17th century explorers manage to make world maps?? ???
There's a 17th-century world map (albeit not entirely complete...NW Canada and Alaska are absent) reproduced twice inside both covers of the book about William Dampier I'm reading. Can distinctly see outlines of Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, South America, British Isles, etc., etc. I've seen reproductions of those old maps before, of course...but how did they manage to make them, does anyone know? Will ask at History House too.
--Cindy

They did it by the clever use of time and rope. A naval cartography vessel knew how fast it was going by simply dropping a buoy overboard and it new the length of the ship. It then new how fast the ship was travelling. From this and the use of a sextant it could tell how far apart points determined where and also by using a sounding line how deep and what composition the bottom was.

Add to this knowing what time it was and also using star positions it was possible to find pretty exactly where you where in the world. But with the Invention of longitude and latitude this got a lot easier and it basically required a very efficent clock.

So now they just mapped the points and since it was major trade routes you have described then these places where very thoroughly mapped.

Palomar · 2005-03-17 08:21:09

*How did 16th and 17th century explorers manage to make world maps?? ???
There's a 17th-century world map (albeit not entirely complete...NW Canada and Alaska are absent) reproduced twice inside both covers of the book about William Dampier I'm reading. Can distinctly see outlines of Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, South America, British Isles, etc., etc. I've seen reproductions of those old maps before, of course...but how did they manage to make them, does anyone know? Will ask at History House too.
--Cindy
They did it by the clever use of time and rope. A naval cartography vessel knew how fast it was going by simply dropping a buoy overboard and it new the length of the ship. It then new how fast the ship was travelling. From this and the use of a sextant it could tell how far apart points determined where and also by using a sounding line how deep and what composition the bottom was.
Add to this knowing what time it was and also using star positions it was possible to find pretty exactly where you where in the world. But with the Invention of longitude and latitude this got a lot easier and it basically required a very efficent clock.
So now they just mapped the points and since it was major trade routes you have described then these places where very thoroughly mapped.

*Gee whiz. :-\ Thanks Grypd. Clever...yes, and ingenius of course.

Speaking of a "very efficient clock": http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1170]John Harrison. Familiar to you?

--Cindy

dicktice · 2005-03-17 11:10:58

Cindy: I've since rented the BBC four-part dramatization of John Harrison's life--the orignal clocks having been restored only recently and in working conditions at Greenwich Observatory-- and it's absolutly riviting (if you like clocks). You may be able to rent it somewhere, through PBS perhaps? It's called "Longitude" and it's a doozy.

Shaun Barrett · 2005-03-17 22:07:38

Grypd:-

They did it by the clever use of time and rope. A naval cartography vessel knew how fast it was going by simply dropping a buoy overboard and it new the length of the ship. It then new how fast the ship was travelling.

I've never heard of this method of determining a ship's speed before - very interesting.
But, I assume from the description given by Grypd, that the 'buoy and rope' method would only give the ship's speed relative to the body of water in which it sailed and not relative to the sea-bottom. In other words, the speed of the ocean current at the point of measurement would become a systematic error in the calculations.
Is this the case, and would such an error (in concert with the obvious errors involved in poor time-keeping, of course) help to explain the comparative inaccuracy of the sea charts of the day?

In any event, I'm still amazed at the ingenuity and the courage of the mariners of those times.The chances of coming home alive must have seemed alarmingly poor with the available technology and yet they braved the odds undaunted.
Perhaps one day, when space travel becomes more routine, we'll regard the exploits of the Apollo lunar astronauts with the same wonder and awe. In my opinion, they were the most extraordinarily gutsy and inspiring individuals of my youth and it's still hard to find words adequate to express my admiration for them.

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#1 2004-06-05 09:33:06

Re: History House

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