Historical Atlas of the North Pacific Ocean

Historical Atlas of the North Pacific Ocean-Maps of Discovery and Scientific Exploration 1500-2000.

Before the Sixteenth Century, the Pacific Ocean was unnamed, unknown, and unmapped. Instead, maps depicted the Atlantic and Pacific as a single sea streching from Europe to China. The world's largest expanse of salt water was "discovered" only after it was learned that the continent of America blocked the way to Cathay.

This stunning illustrated historical atlas details how, over time, the mysteries of the North Pacific have been probed. It is a treasure chest of five hundred years of maps, from antique charts drawn at the beginning of the sixteenth century to modern satellite images of today. Here are Dutch, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, American,Spanish, French and British maps collected from archives and libraries around the world. Modern surveys and the maps they produced trace developments in the science of oceanography. There are 285 maps in this atlas.

The intriguing maps and comprehensive text of this historical atlas show how much we have learned about what was once seen as a "boundless ocean". In doing so, they also show that the North Pacific Ocean still harbours many secrets.

Hardback with dustcover,with maps to endpapers. Half Title, Frontispiece, Title, Acknowledgements, Contents. 234 pages with 285 maps.

Fine

ISBN 9780714 125602