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Terra Australis
(Latin for ) was a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between the 15th and 18th centuries. Its existence was not based on any survey or direct observation, but rather on the idea that continental land in the Northern Hemisphere should be balanced by land in the Southern Hemisphere.John Noble Wilford: The Mapmakers, the Story of the Great Pioneers in Cartography from Antiquity to Space Age, p. 139, Vintage Books, Random House 1982, This theory of balancing land has been documented as early as the 5th century on maps by Macrobius, who used the term ' on his maps. Names Other names for the hypothetical continent have included and (), and (). Other names were (), and (). Matthias Ringmann called it the () in 1505, and Franciscus Monachus called it the ''Australis orę'' (Austral country). In medieval times it was known as the Antipodes. The French writer Guillaume Postel proposed the name ''Chasdia'', after Noah's grandson C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Ortelius
Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern atlas, the (''Theatre of the World''). Along with Gemma Frisius and Gerardus Mercator, Ortelius is generally considered one of the founders of the Early modern Netherlandish cartography, Netherlandish school of cartography and geography. He was a notable figure of this school in its golden age (approximately 1570s–1670s) and an important geographer of Spain during the age of discovery. The publication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. He was the first person proposing that the continents were joined before continental drift, drifting to their present positions. Life Abraham Ortelius was born on either 4 April or 14 April 1527 in the city of Antwerp, which w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Holland (Australia)
''New Holland'' () is a historical European name for mainland Australia, Janszoon voyage of 1605–1606, first encountered by Europeans in 1606, by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon aboard . The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch people, Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman, and for a time came to be applied in most European maps to the vaunted "Southern land" or ''Terra Australis'' even after its coastline was finally explored. The continent of Antarctica, later named in the 1890s, was still in largely speculative form; it resumed the name (sometimes suffixed , ). Its existence had been speculated on in some maps since the 5th century, under the theory of "balancing hemispheres". Lieutenant James Cook, during his First voyage of James Cook, first voyage of discovery, claimed the eastern portion of the Australian continent for the British Crown in 1770, naming it New South Wales. The British settlement of Sydney as a colony in 1788 prompted Britain to formally cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somnium Scipionis
The ''Dream of Scipio'' (Latin: ''Somnium Scipionis''), written by Cicero, is the sixth book of ''De re publica'', and describes a (postulated fictional or real) dream vision of the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus, set two years before he oversaw the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. Textual history The ''Somnium Scipionis'' is a portion of the sixth and final book from Cicero's ''De re publica'', but because parts of Cicero's whole work are missing, ''Somnium Scipionis'' represents nearly all that remains of the sixth book.Stahl (1952), p. 10. The main reason that the ''Somnium Scipionis'' survived was because in the fifth-century, the Latin writer Macrobius wrote a Neoplatonic commentary on the work, in which he excerpted large portions from Cicero. Additionally, many copies of Macrobius's work were amended with a copy of the ''Somnium Scipionis'' at their end. However, during the Middle Ages, the ''Somnium Scipionis'' became so popular that its transmission was pollut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. His extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy and politics. He is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists and the innovator of what became known as "Ciceronian rhetoric". Cicero was educated in Rome and in Greece. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and served as consul in 63 BC. He greatly influenced both ancient and modern reception of the Latin language. A substantial part of his work has survived, and he was admired by both ancient and modern authors alike. Cicero adapted the arguments of the chief schools of Hellenistic philosophy in Latin and coined a large portion of Latin philosophical vocabulary via lex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. The Indian Ocean has large marginal or regional seas, including the Andaman Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Laccadive Sea. Geologically, the Indian Ocean is the youngest of the oceans, and it has distinct features such as narrow continental shelf, continental shelves. Its average depth is 3,741 m. It is the warmest ocean, with a significant impact on global climate due to its interaction with the atmosphere. Its waters are affected by the Indian Ocean Walker circulation, resulting in unique oceanic currents and upwelling patterns. The Indian Ocean is ecologically diverse, with important ecosystems such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzantine, Islamic science, Islamic, and Science in the Renaissance, Western European science. The first was his astronomical treatise now known as the ''Almagest'', originally entitled ' (, ', ). The second is the ''Geography (Ptolemy), Geography'', which is a thorough discussion on maps and the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian physics, Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the ' (, 'On the Effects') but more commonly known as the ' (from the Koine Greek meaning 'four books'; ). The Catholic Church promoted his work, which included the only mathematically sound geocentric model of the Sola ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, and the arts. As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum in Athens, he began the wider Aristotelianism, Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science. Little is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira (ancient city), Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical Greece, Classical period. His father, Nicomachus (father of Aristotle), Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At around eighteen years old, he joined Plato's Platonic Academy, Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty seven (). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claudius Ptolemy- The World
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Antonia Minor at Lugdunum in Roman Gaul, where his father was stationed as a military legate. He was the first Roman emperor to be born outside Roman Italy, Italy. As he had a limp and slight deafness due to an illness he suffered when young, he was ostracized by his family and was excluded from public office until his consulship (which was shared with his nephew, Caligula, in 37). Claudius's infirmity probably saved him from the fate of many other nobles during the purges throughout the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula, as potential enemies did not see him as a serious threat. His survival led to him being declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula's assassination, at which point he was the last adult male of his family. Despite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Voyage To Terra Australis
''A Voyage to Terra Australis: Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country, and Prosecuted in the Years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty's Ship the Investigator'' was a sea voyage journal written by British mariner and explorer Matthew Flinders. It describes his circumnavigation of the Australian continent in the early years of the 19th century, and his imprisonment by the French on the island of Mauritius from 1804 to 1810. Circumnavigation The book told in great detail of his explorations and included maps and drawings of the profiles of unknown coastline areas of what Flinders called " Terra Australis Incognita." By this, he was referring to the great unknown Southern continent that had been sighted and partly mapped by prominent earlier mariners such as Captain James Cook. The ship Flinders commanded, , was a 334-ton sloop. Up until this time the circumnavigation of Australia which was necessary to prove it was a single continent land ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Name Of Australia
The name ''Australia'' (pronounced in Australian English) is derived from the Latin , meaning , and specifically from the hypothetical postulated in pre-modern geography. The name was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders from 1804, and it has been in official use since 1817, replacing '' New Holland'', an English translation of the Dutch name, first given by Abel Tasman in 1643 as the name for the continent. History The name ''Australia'' has been applied to two continents. Originally, it was applied to the south polar continent, or sixth continent, now known as Antarctica. The name is a shortened form of which was one of the names given to the imagined (but undiscovered) land mass that was thought to surround the south pole. The earliest known use of the name in Latin was in 1545, when the word appears in a woodcut illustration of the globe titled ''Sphere of the Winds'' contained in an astrological textbook published in Frankfurt. In the nineteenth century, the nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Flinders
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland (Australia), New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to utilise the name ''Australia'' to describe the entirety of that continent including Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), a title he regarded as being "more agreeable to the ear" than previous names such as ''Terra Australis''. Flinders was involved in several voyages of discovery between 1791 and 1803, the most famous of which are the circumnavigation of Australia and an earlier expedition when he and George Bass confirmed that Van Diemen's Land was an island. While returning to Britain in 1803, Flinders was arrested by the French at the colony of Isle de France (Mauritius), Isle de France. Although Britain and France were at war, Flinders thought t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
