Renaissance/Enlightenment (1600’s-1800’s)
35 The Age of Exploration
Navigational Technology and the Affect on Global Societies
JB Bahrenburg
Introduction
The Age of Exploration, an era in which many European countries began focusing their efforts on global exploration, brought on great change in global societal relations. This era would have never been made possible without first advancing numerous technologies. These technologies making this time period possible range from the obvious in navigational equipment to the more surprising in the invention of the printing press. As technology continued to evolve, more and more Europeans began to explore the world. This led to the rise of many deified figures such as Magellan and Columbus. These figures did change the world, and may have changed Europe for better, but their actions, and the overall actions of European explorers during this time, ultimately lead to the downfall of many Native societies worldwide. Improvements in navigation, shipbuilding, and mapmaking prompted the Age of Exploration causing the European economy to become more globally oriented and in effect causing the destruction of many Native societies worldwide.
Technological Advances
Exploration was not a new concept to Europeans by the time Columbus decided to search for India, however there had been very little, almost no, exploration of the Americas. With that, a fair amount of the exploration done was done on land, such as the work done by the almost mythified Marco Polo. Technology simply had not evolved enough to enable people to sail such vast distances provided by the Atlantic ocean. Hence, by the time this era rolled around, it was enabled by the technological advances that had been made prior and continued to be developed throughout the era. Advances in navigational equipment, such as the astrolabe, allowed for easier and more precise travel. Advances in ship making and weaponry allowed ships to travel longer distances with provided security. Finally advances in mapmaking made travel and exploration more accessible.
Navigational Equipment
The number of navigational tools used during the age of exploration was fairly large in number and each had a unique use. Arguably the most important or at least widely used was the astrolabe. The astrolabe dates all the way back to the Romans and had been used well before the age of exploration, however advancements in this technology as well as the introduction of its variant the Mariner’s astrolabe contributed to this era. This technology was notably used by both Magellan and Columbus and assisted sailors in determining latitude based on measurements from the stars. Many other technologies used similar measurements to determine the latitudinal position of the ship. The Kamal had a simple design, consisting of a string and a piece of wood. The combination of these two allowed sailors to align the wood with the north star, then use knots on the string to make measurements. The quadrant,