4 ms·

The Mystery of Extraordinarily Accurate Medieval Maps (2014)

145 points by Vigier 12y ago

Supersaiyan_IV 12y ago
And the mystery of how northern Canada and Northern Pole had a common shore. Now rethink the amount of ice that has melted.
- mortehu 12y ago
  > northern Canada and Northern Pole had a common shore What do you mean by this? Doesn't it every year? Here's this winter's maximum: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/seaice_max_2015_feb_25_overheadviewnoave_print.jpg http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/sea...
- semi-extrinsic 12y ago
  Yeah, because Northern Canada and the North Pole was very well explored in 1746... Not. Amundsen discovered the Northwest Passage in 1906.
- duskwuff 12y ago
  That region was barely explored at the time -- the coastline in that area was probably based on observations from only a few voyages. (Given the harsh conditions up there, it's also likely that the observations were subject to more error than usual.) I wouldn't put too much stock into it.
- chockablock 12y ago
  The article is about 14th c. navigation in the Mediterranean, and has nothing to do with Canada, either of the Poles, or ice. (Or: Please don't feed the trolls)
- Varcht 12y ago
  There was also that "Little Ice Age" thing.
- phaemon 12y ago
  As others have pointed out, not much was known of that area at that time (1746). In James Boswell's "THE JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES WITH SAMUEL JOHNSON", which occurred in 1773, he writes: "Talking of Phipps's voyage to the North Pole, Dr Johnson observed, that it 'was conjectured that our former navigators have kept too near land, and so have found the sea frozen far north, because the land hinders the free motion of the tide; but, in the wide ocean, where the waves tumble at their full convenience, it is imagined that the frost does not take effect'." So there was certainly speculation about the Arctic at this time by educated people, but clearly they didn't know a great deal about it.
  - jordanb 12y ago
    Yeah the facts that 1) the arctic ocean is covered in ice even in open water and 2) The north pole is in the arctic ocean (rather than on some potentially undiscovered land) weren't conclusively proven until the Fram expedition by Fridtjof Nansen in 1896. There was enormous speculation in the papers and in the scientific communities about what would come of Nansen and what he would find in the lead up to during his expedition so practically speaking the extremely high northern latitudes remained a "blank spot" until the turn of the 20th century.
tdumitrescu 12y ago
Note that the map image at the top of that article is not at all medieval; it's from the 18th century. The one the article talks about (13th century) is farther down: http://discovermagazine.com/sitefiles/resources/image.aspx?item={8D1F57A0-B157-4C9A-AF19-2D24F94CDA37}&mw=900&mh=600 http://discovermagazine.com/sitefiles/resources/image.aspx?i...
- kencausey 12y ago
  I just about flipped a table when I glanced at that image and then started reading about a supposedly 13th century map. I find the use of that image at the top suspicious, perhaps akin to link-bait.
  - KFW504 12y ago
    I'm with you - it's also extraordinarily obvious given the level of detail/explored regions represented - relatively surprising that the author did this given the level of detail the article goes into...but may not have been her call though
chockablock 12y ago
This research doesn't seem to be published anywhere, but here's a 30-page presentation at Hessler's academia.edu page, which contains some nice data plots. https://www.academia.edu/1666460/Bi-dimensional_Regression_Revisited_Studying_the_Geometry_and_Form_of_the_Medieval_Portolan_Chart https://www.academia.edu/1666460/Bi-dimensional_Regression_R... Hessler also seems to have a personal blog devoted to related topics: www.warpinghistory.blogspot.com
- SSLy 12y ago
  I have found one editorial by Mr. Hessler, one review of his book, one review made by himself and a paper (Warping Waldseemuller: A Phenomenological and Computational Study of the 1507 World Map, printed in cartographica) but is is about a different piece of cartography.

145 points by Vigier 12y ago

And the mystery of how northern Canada and Northern Pole had a common shore. Now rethink the amount of ice that has melted.

mortehu 12y ago
> northern Canada and Northern Pole had a common shore What do you mean by this? Doesn't it every year? Here's this winter's maximum: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/seaice_max_2015_feb_25_overheadviewnoave_print.jpg http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/sea...
semi-extrinsic 12y ago
Yeah, because Northern Canada and the North Pole was very well explored in 1746... Not. Amundsen discovered the Northwest Passage in 1906.
duskwuff 12y ago
That region was barely explored at the time -- the coastline in that area was probably based on observations from only a few voyages. (Given the harsh conditions up there, it's also likely that the observations were subject to more error than usual.) I wouldn't put too much stock into it.
chockablock 12y ago
The article is about 14th c. navigation in the Mediterranean, and has nothing to do with Canada, either of the Poles, or ice. (Or: Please don't feed the trolls)
Varcht 12y ago
There was also that "Little Ice Age" thing.
phaemon 12y ago
As others have pointed out, not much was known of that area at that time (1746). In James Boswell's "THE JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES WITH SAMUEL JOHNSON", which occurred in 1773, he writes: "Talking of Phipps's voyage to the North Pole, Dr Johnson observed, that it 'was conjectured that our former navigators have kept too near land, and so have found the sea frozen far north, because the land hinders the free motion of the tide; but, in the wide ocean, where the waves tumble at their full convenience, it is imagined that the frost does not take effect'." So there was certainly speculation about the Arctic at this time by educated people, but clearly they didn't know a great deal about it.
- jordanb 12y ago
  Yeah the facts that 1) the arctic ocean is covered in ice even in open water and 2) The north pole is in the arctic ocean (rather than on some potentially undiscovered land) weren't conclusively proven until the Fram expedition by Fridtjof Nansen in 1896. There was enormous speculation in the papers and in the scientific communities about what would come of Nansen and what he would find in the lead up to during his expedition so practically speaking the extremely high northern latitudes remained a "blank spot" until the turn of the 20th century.

tdumitrescu 12y ago

Note that the map image at the top of that article is not at all medieval; it's from the 18th century. The one the article talks about (13th century) is farther down: http://discovermagazine.com/sitefiles/resources/image.aspx?item={8D1F57A0-B157-4C9A-AF19-2D24F94CDA37}&mw=900&mh=600 http://discovermagazine.com/sitefiles/resources/image.aspx?i...

kencausey 12y ago
I just about flipped a table when I glanced at that image and then started reading about a supposedly 13th century map. I find the use of that image at the top suspicious, perhaps akin to link-bait.
- KFW504 12y ago
  I'm with you - it's also extraordinarily obvious given the level of detail/explored regions represented - relatively surprising that the author did this given the level of detail the article goes into...but may not have been her call though

chockablock 12y ago

This research doesn't seem to be published anywhere, but here's a 30-page presentation at Hessler's academia.edu page, which contains some nice data plots. https://www.academia.edu/1666460/Bi-dimensional_Regression_Revisited_Studying_the_Geometry_and_Form_of_the_Medieval_Portolan_Chart https://www.academia.edu/1666460/Bi-dimensional_Regression_R... Hessler also seems to have a personal blog devoted to related topics: www.warpinghistory.blogspot.com

SSLy 12y ago
I have found one editorial by Mr. Hessler, one review of his book, one review made by himself and a paper (Warping Waldseemuller: A Phenomenological and Computational Study of the 1507 World Map, printed in cartographica) but is is about a different piece of cartography.