THE BLUE HORIZON
Publisher's Book Description:
"In Beyond the Blue Horizon, bestselling science historian Brian Fagan tackles his richest topic yet: the enduring mystery of the oceans, the planet's most forbidding terrain.This is not a tale of Columbus or Hudson, but of much earlier mariners. From the moment when ancient Polynesians first dared to sail beyond the horizon, Fagan vividly explains how our mastery of the oceans has changed history, even before history was written. Beyond the Blue Horizon delves into the very beginnings of humanity's long and intimate relationship with the sea. It willl enthrall readers who enjoyed Longitude, Simon Winchester's Atlantic, or in its scope and its insightful linking of technology and culture, Guns, Germs, and Steel. What drove humans to risk their lives on open water? How did early sailors unlock the secrets of winds, tides, and the stars they steered by? What were the earliest ocean crossings like? With compelling detail, Brian Fagan reveals how seafaring evolved so that the vast realms of the sea gods were transformed from barriers into highways that hummed with commerce. Indeed, for most of human history, oceans have been the most vital connectors of far-flung societies. From bamboo rafts in the Java Sea to the caravels of the Age of Discovery, from Easter Island to Crete, Brian Fagan crafts a captivating narrative of humanity's urge to seek out distant shores, of the daring men and women who did so, and of the mark they have left on civilization." Suggested by Long Boat Company members.
AAB EDITOR'S NOTE: In our various posts and E book on going efforts under the various titles that started with "SPACE AS AN OCEAN we have often noted the differences between "explorations" as government sponsored in whole or in part expeditions and "migrations", individual and group decisions to strike out and find new territory. We noted that all of the continents and most of the inhabitable islands of the ocean were populated by 1492 when Europe was engaged in the great age of ocean exploration. Certainly there were ocean crossings and deep ocean voyaging long before Columbus, Magellan, et al. Given the fact that it took government sponsored programs to solve the navigation problems of the era of European exploration one has to wonder how ancient peoples made the incredible voyages that it took to populate the Earth. This book explores that question with a mix of new archaeological, historical information and highly informed speculation. For us, as we explore the subject of space as an ocean, the book provides a lot of detail on the parallel ocean migrations and our suspicion that a space migration will follow our present age of exploration, perhaps much sooner than we originally thought. The mariners of unrecorded history relied on primitive wooden boats and simple technologies, and intuitive navigation systems. The coming space migration shows every sign now, as we move very rapidly into the commercial space transport efforts, that the enterprising are rapidly adapting the cheaper and less expensive technologies to commercial use. The enterprising are already supplementing governmental efforts in space and thinking up adventurous space enterprises that don't coincide or depend on government effort. Tools used in the 1400s through the 1700s such as the chronometer often spent a period of time as government secrets before finding their way into commercial use. Despite being equipped at the trailing edge of navigational technology merchant mariners often forged out ahead of naval forces establishing colonies and trading posts. The more we understand about sea migration vice government sponsored or partnered exploration, the more we find parallels with evolving space faring that could be of predictive utility. We've read this book and join the Long Boat Company in recommending it , for a very broad audience, including the non maritime audience interested in space travel and transport.
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