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Subject: Re: Zheng He steered by the stars?
From: Peter Fogg (ffive@XXX.XXX)
Date: Sun Nov 24 2002 - 20:16:05 EST
Let us be sceptical by all means, but also remember that not so long ago
Christopher Columbus was credited with 'discovering' the Americas. I imagine
that most people would accept now that the Vikings established a settlement
that has been excavated at l'Anse Meadow in the northeast of North America.
Also, possibly, Irish monks in leather-bound boats during the first millenium
made similar trips - they certainly said they did at the time. They sailed via
Iceland and Greenland, making landfall at a place that was thickly wooded -
where else could it be?
In any case what interests me is the navigational techniques and instruments
early explorers may have developed independently of the European models whose
descendants we have inherited.
If anyone has access to 'definitive' histories or books on ancient Chinese
technologies it seems I would not be the only person to be interested in what
may be found there.
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