Michael Baizerman Author

Image: At the foothills of Pico del Teide Courtesy:  https://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/attractions/pico-del-teide/a/poi-sig/444919/360727 I am hopeful you are well and sound. My best advice for those who must spend a lot of time time in isolation is to engage in your favorite activities. In my case, it is research in matters that interest me. As you know, I have launched new research, which focuses on the European discovery of the maritime route to the Indies. I am working on Part I of the study titled " The Little Age of Discovery: The Conquest of the Western Sea". Here I tell the story of the European ventures in the eastern Atlantic throughout the fourteenth century.  The first two chapters are complete. Chapter 1,  How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea, based on the report of Herodotus, defies the idea that Africa had been circumnavigated in antiquity. It  also corrects the impression that Columbus was a lone wolf  obsessed with a crazy idea to f...

I decided to upload my fresh research from the third project: the European quest for the maritime route to India in the XVth century. See my site  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael/Papers The article is titled "How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea".  Herodotus recorded several naval accounts:  however, are they trustworthy and, if positive, to what extent? The Phoenician ship replica attests to the seaworthiness of their vessels rather than to the details of the epic 2700-year-old voyage across Africa. For most intellectuals of the European Middle Ages, the ocean was a dangerous place. Only toward the close of the fifteenth century, some mapmakers endeavored to visualize the 'latitudinal' route connecting the remote West with the Far East. Columbus was a diehard prisoner of his ambition; he could not help manipulating his figures and engaged in wishful thinking to make his dream come true. The research includes two parts: the first one reviews the ...

Courtesy: John Carlton  https://www.quora.com/Why-don%E2%80%99t-modern-civilian-cargo-ships-also-use-sails-in-addition-to-engine-power-to-reduce-fuel-consumption   I am remodeling my old article titled "How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea".  It consists of two parts. The first section covers maritime explorations carried out during the VI and V centuries BCE; it was so vividly described by Herodotus. We refer to the Phoenician expedition which is reported to have circumnavigated Africa, as well as the exploits of Sataspes, Scylax of Caryanda, and Hanno the Navigator.     The other segment collects the views of classical and medieval geographers concerning the prospect of crossing the Atlantic Ocean that was believed to separate Spain (or, in another version, Marocco) from China and Japan.  These scholars discuss such issues as the existence of a landmass in between or an unbroken expanse of the deep blue. Among them, we find Aristotle, Eratosthe...