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"It is easier to
sail many thousand miles through cold and storm and cannibals,
in a government ship, with five hundred men and boys to assist
one, than it is to explore the private sea, the Atlantic and
Pacific Ocean of one's being alone. It is not worth the while
to go round the world to count the cats in Zanzibar."
- Henry David Thoreau
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of
Exploration, was a period in human history
starting in the 15th Century and continuing into
the 17th Century, during which
Europeans explored the world by ocean
searching for trading partners and particular
trade goods. The most desired trading goods were
gold,
silver and
spices. Western Europeans used new sailing
ship technologies, new maps, and advances in
astronomy to seek a viable
trade route to
Asia for valuable spices which would be
uncontested by Mediterranean powers. In terms of
shipping advances, the most important
developments were the creation of the
carrack and
caravel designs in
Portugal. These vessels evolved from
medieval European designs from the North Sea
and both the Christian and Islamic
Mediterranean. They were the first ships that
could leave the relatively placid and calm
Mediterranean,
Baltic or
North Sea and sail safely on the open
Atlantic. Source: Wikipedia Exploration: "
Travel to a part of the earth that is relatively
unknown to the traveler's culture, historically often
motivated by a desire for colonization, conquest, or trade."
Source:
Answers.com
