Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
The journey of the first humans to Australia is one of the most important events in history, at least as important as Columbus’ journey to America or the Apollo 11 expedition to the moon. It was the first time any human had managed to leave the Afro-Asian ecological system – indeed, the first time any large terrestrial mammal had managed to cross
... See moreYuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Un seul exploit reste encore à réaliser, le dernier, le plus beau, le plus difficile : faire sur un seul et même navire le tour du globe, prouver envers et contre tous les cosmographes et les théologiens du passé la sphéricité de la terre. Accomplir cette mission sera le but et la destinée de Fernão de Magalhães.
Stefan Zweig • Magellan (French Edition)
The race was scheduled for August but was overtaken by events considerably before then. On June 29, two army fliers successfully flew in a Fokker from Oakland to Oahu in twenty-six hours. It was an extraordinary achievement—hitting Hawaii was a real feat of navigation—and the two pilots, Lieutenant Lester J. Maitland and Lieutenant Albert F.
... See moreBill Bryson • One Summer
Maps from the early seventeenth century show the fragmented vision of the world’s geography available to mariners. A vast, blank expanse filled these maps, a frightening terra incognita concealing unknown possibilities for commerce or plunder. The only viable trade route to the silks, spices and gems of the mysterious Eastern lands was precarious
... See moreStephen R. Bown • Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 16001900
Instead, they built boats and learned how to steer them. And these skills enabled them to reach and settle Australia.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens
We were then passing between Sicily and the coast of Tunis.
Jules Verne • Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
a feat of exploration that would win him the Patron’s Medal from the Royal Geographical Society.
Wade Davis • Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest
Saldania future voyages would often make for one of Madagascar’s
John Keay • The Honourable Company: History of the English East India Company
In the company of a young French medical doctor turned botanist, Aime Bonpland, Humboldt had departed from La Coruña, Spain, in June 1799, on a Spanish frigate, slipping past a British blockade in the dark of night, in the midst of a storm, and carrying with him a unique document from the Spanish government. He and Bonpland had been granted
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