Cosmography in the Age of Discovery and the Scientific Revolution

Foreword
Notes About Translations and Names
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Figures
Chapter 1: Plus Ultra: The Iberian Explorations and Cartography
1 The Rich and Diverse Cultural Heritage from Antiquity
1.1 Cosmographic Knowledge in Antiquity and the Early Middle Age
1.1.1 A Geocentric and Geostationary Cosmos
1.2 The Islamic Civilization and Its Cosmographic Impact
1.2.1 The Middle East: The House of Wisdom
1.2.2 Al-Andalus: Muslim Portugal and Spain
1.3 Late Middle Age in Europe: The Role of Iberian Peninsula
1.3.1 The First School of Translators of Toledo
1.3.2 The Second School of Translators of Toledo
1.3.3 The European Universities
2 The Background of the Iberian Hatching
2.1 The “Discovery” of the Orient
2.2 The Possibility of the Trip to Asia Travelling Westwards
2.3 The Discovery of the Oceanic Islands
3 Portuguese Exploration
3.1 Atlantic and African Exploration: The Impulse of Henrique “The Navigator”
3.2 The Exploration of East Africa: After the Lands of Preste John
3.3 The Portuguese Crossing of the Equator: The Transition from the Middle Ages to the Late Modern Period
4 The Explorations of the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon
4.1 The Cartographic School of Mallorca
4.2 Columbus’ Mistake and a New Continent
4.3 Other Explorers: de la Cosa, Caboto, Ojeda, Pinzón and Vespucci
4.4 The Division of the World: The Conflicts Between Portugal and Spain
4.5 The Pacific Ocean: More than the “Spanish Lake”
4.5.1 The Exploration of the Pacific in the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries
4.5.2 The End of Iberian Unity: Dutch, French and English Competition
4.5.3 Spanish Expeditions in the Eighteenth Century
4.6 Exploration Versus Conquest: The Rationale for the Process
5 Ptolemy, Mercator and the New Cosmography
5.1 Maximo Planudes: The Quasi Anonymous Hero
5.2 Claudius Ptolemy, a Bridge Between the Science of Antiquity and the Renaissance
5.3 The Manuscript of Geographia and its Family Tree
5.4 The Resurrection of Geographia
5.5 Beyond Ptolemy and His Maps of the Inhabited World
5.6 Cartography in the Early Sixteenth Century: de la Cosa and Waldseemüller
5.7 The Name of America and the New Continent
5.8 The Geographic Importance of the Magellan-Elcano Expedition
5.9 The Basic Tool of Imperial Rule: Cartography
5.10 Celestial Cartography: Celestial and Terrestrial Planispheres and Globes
References
Chapter 2: Humanism as a Trigger for the Scientific Revolution
1 Humanism and Its Pan-European Impact
1.1 Reconnecting with the Greco-Roman World
1.2 Erasmus and Humanism Beyond the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas
1.3 Humanism in Spain: Nebrija as Its Greatest Exponent
1.4 The Emergence of the Printing Press and Its Impact
1.4.1 The Effect on the Spread of Humanist Ideas
1.4.2 Printing in Spain
1.5 The End of Humanism in Spain
2 Cosmography in the Age of Humanism
2.1 Dante Alighieri’s Cosmography: From Medieval Times to Humanism
2.2 Science in the Context of Humanism
2.3 Leonardo da Vinci: The Ignored Humanist
2.4 Astronomy in the Fifteenth Century
2.5 Astronomy in Sixteenth Century Up to the Publication of De Revolutionibus
2.6 Humanism and Science in the Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile
2.6.1 Cosmography in the University of Salamanca
2.6.2 Abraham Zacuto
2.6.3 Nebrija and Cosmography
2.6.4 Other Scholars
2.7 Calendar Reform as an Astronomical, Social and Religious Problem
2.8 Ptolemy, Pico della Mirandola and the End of Astrology
3 The Causes of the Scientific Revolution
3.1 Scientific Revolution: Definition and Background
3.2 The Republic of Letters
References
Chapter 3: The New Astronomy at the Dawn of the Scientific Revolution
1 The Heliocentric Revolution and Copernicus
1.1 The Publication of De revolutionibus
1.2 The Background of Heliocentrism
1.3 Heliocentrism up to the Beginning of the Scientific Revolution
1.4 Giordano Bruno and the Infinite Worlds
2 Tycho Brahe: New Stars and Accurate Stellar Catalogues
3 Kepler: The Last Pythagorean?
3.1 Kepler’s Pythagorean Heritage
3.2 Kepler and the Multiple Harmonies of the Cosmos
3.3 The Collaboration with Tycho Brahe: The Orbit of Mars and the Rudolfian Tables
4 “Eppur si muove”: Galileo and the Immobility of the Earth
4.1 The Telescope, Sidereus Nuncius and the New Kosmos
4.2 The Epistolary Relationship Between Galileo and Kepler
4.3 The Controversy with Simon Marius and the Discovery of Jupiter’s Satellites
4.4 First Denunciations, the Admonition of 1616 and the Condemnation of 1633
4.5 The Immediate Effect on Other Catholic Theologians and Scientists
4.5.1 Descartes’ Vortexes: Heliocentrism in Disguise
4.5.2 The Influence of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo in Spain
4.6 The Proof Sought by Galileo: The Finite Speed of Light and the Motion of the Earth
4.7 The “Absolution” of Heliocentrism and the “Galileo Case” as Seen Today
5 Science and Literature: The Effect of the New Cosmography
5.1 Cosmography in the Works of Cervantes and Other Authors
5.2 Scientific Satire in the Eighteenth Century: Jonathan Swift and Gulliver’s Travels
References
Chapter 4: The Measure of Longitude: From Iberia to Albion
1 The Measurement of Position on the Terrestrial Globe
2 Determining Longitude: Methods
2.1 Background in Pre-scientific Navigation
2.1.1 The Fixed Point or Zero Meridian
2.2 Astronomical Methods
2.2.1 The Use of Lunar Eclipses
2.2.2 The Method of Lunar Distances
2.2.3 Galileo’s Method: Eclipses of Jovian Satellites
2.3 Relevant Innovations
2.3.1 Some Essential Technical Improvements
2.3.2 Mathematical Innovations
2.3.3 From Portulans to Modern Cartography
2.3.4 Navigation Manuals
2.3.5 The New Celestial Maps and Lunar Tables
2.4 Mechanical Methods
2.4.1 The Development of Instruments for Time Measurement
2.4.2 Calculation of Longitude Using Mechanical Clocks
2.5 After the Chimera: Other Proposals
2.6 Precise Determination of the Geographical Location
3 The Calculation of Longitude and the Implications for Different European Powers
3.1 Spanish Imperial Expansion: Navigation as a Science
3.1.1 The Sixteenth Century
3.1.2 Galileo and Spain
3.1.3 The Seventeenth Century: Last Proposals and the Arbitrists
3.1.4 Jorge Juan: The “Spanish Sage” at King Arthur’s Court
3.2 The Trading Power: The United Provinces
3.3 France and the Academic Impulse
3.4 The Foundations of the Pax Britannica: The Royal Astronomers
References
Chapter 5: The Shape of the Earth and Geographical Exploration
1 The Size and Shape of the Earth
1.1 The Measure of the Earth
1.2 The Pendulum and the Measurement of Time: A New Tool
1.3 Determining the Shape of the Earth and the Law of Gravity
1.4 Meridian Arcs: A Systematic Program for Determining the Shape
1.5 A Corollary: The Mapping of France
1.6 The New Determination of the Meridian and the Decimal Metric System
2 Symmetries: New Continents
2.1 The Antipodes and the Balance of the World
2.2 The Identification of Oceania
2.3 The White Continent: Antarctica
3 The Strait of Anian: The Mythical Northwest Passage
3.1 Northwest Course
3.2 The South Sea and the Route to the East Indies
3.3 The New Spanis Explorations
3.4 The British Admiralty and the Role of John Barrow
4 Cartographers, Explorers and Missionaries: The Exploration of Africa
4.1 The Nile in Antiquity
4.2 The Beginning of European Penetration in Africa
4.3 The Last Frontier: The Race of the Nineteenth Century
References
Conclusions
Colophon: Culture, Science Versus Humanities
Index