exploration and discovery critical part of the human condition

EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERYCritical part of the human condition

CONNECTIONSCONNECTIONSHow are people and

places connected?Why these connections?When did they develop?What trade networks,

or accessibility links,

are there between

places?

Expansion from core area

(Out of Africa)

• Rise of cultural hearths (sedentary settlements)

- Nile, Fertile Crescent, Americas, Indus Valley, Ganges, etc.

MOTIVATIONS FOR EXPLORATION MOTIVATIONS FOR EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERYAND DISCOVERY

• HUMAN DESIRE TO SEE “WHAT’S OVER THE HILL”

• NEED FOR MORE RESOURCES

• TRIBAL / IMPERIALISTIC / EMPIRE AMBITIONS (TERRITORY)

Political geography of Political geography of territory and resourcesterritory and resources

TERRITORY = RESOURCESRESOURCES = POWERPOWER = MORE TERRITORY

Venetian and Genoan Trade NetworksVenetian and Genoan Trade Networks

GOING GLOBAL GOING GLOBAL ………… • GREAT CHINESE FLEETS -

early 15TH CENT. (Indian and Pacific Ocean voyages)

GOING GLOBAL GOING GLOBAL ………… • EUROPEAN VOYAGES -

1450s onwards (Caravelle, astrolabe, gunpowder, etc.)

• GREAT CHINESE FLEETS - 15TH CENTURY (Indian and Pacific Ocean voyages)

EUROPEANEXPLORATION

15TH – 18TH centuries

Sub-Saharan Africa/Asia

Slowly incorporated into the Atlantic trade system

AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENTAGE OF ENLIGHTENMENTBelief in power of science to help humans

understand their place in the world - The Age of Reason● Scientific expeditions across the planet

KONDRATIEFF CYCLESKONDRATIEFF CYCLESFIRST CYCLE = 1760s to 1820s

Technology = Steam, Mining, Factories The Industrial Revolution

Cycle is a +/- 30-year rise on innovation and a +/- 30-year decline until next

innovation

EXPLORATION-DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION-DISCOVERY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC SOCIO-ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENTDEVELOPMENT

PACIFIC EXPLORATIONPACIFIC EXPLORATIONBritain’s James Cook (1728-1779)

KONDRATIEFF CYCLESKONDRATIEFF CYCLESSECOND CYCLE = 1820s to 1880s (Empire Building)Technology = Railroad, Steamships,

Telegraph

PLANNED RAILROAD ROUTES - PLANNED RAILROAD ROUTES - FRENCH WEST AFRICAFRENCH WEST AFRICA

AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY EXPLORATIONSFounded in 1851 in New York

The AGS mission – exploration and discovery

Research focus – Arctic and Antarctic

Notables – Grinnell, Muir, Pres. Wilson, Isaiah Bowman, FDR ……..

KONDRATIEFF CYCLESKONDRATIEFF CYCLESTHIRD CYCLE = 1880s to 1945

Technology = Automobiles, airplanes,

telephones, weaponry.

The Age of the great European out-migrations….. (1830s to 1930s)

AGE OF EMPIRESAGE OF EMPIRES1886 CONFERENCE OF BERLIN

Opening up Africa – scramble for

resources and territory

KONDRATIEFF CYCLESKONDRATIEFF CYCLESFOURTH CYCLE = 1945 to early 1990s

Technology = Space, communications, the quantitative revolution

The Atomic Age……. The Cold War …….

KONDRATIEFF CYCLESKONDRATIEFF CYCLESFIFTH CYCLE = early 1990s to 2050s ??Technology = digital, biotech,

nanotechnology, GPS/GIS (spatial mapping), massive infrastructure (renewal?)

KONDRATIEFF CYCLESKONDRATIEFF CYCLESFIFTH CYCLE = early 1990s to 2050s ??

The Age of Globalization The Age of Cultural Conflicts ????

The Age of Climate Change !!!!!

(Human Impacts)

2121stst CENTURY EXPLORATION CENTURY EXPLORATIONWhat are the new exploration and

discovery challenges for the 21st century?

2121stst CENTURY EXPLORATION CENTURY EXPLORATION

Oceans ?

Space ?

The Human Genome project ?

Human – Environment Relationships ?

THANK YOU!THANK YOU!