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| The helicopter arrives to bring the first group of people away from the ship. |
The Age of Exploration describes the time period where Europeans sailed to the rest of the world, colonizing and settling the Americas, and leading the way to the Columbian Exchange, the slave trade, and the eventual communication between distant cultures throughout the world. "Explorer" is a term used to describe Christopher Columbus or Ferdinand Magellan or Vasco de Gama. It's easy to think that "exploration" is a thing of the past.
But it's not.
Humans have never stopped exploring. And not just space- humans are still exploring Earth! We're sending ships to Antarctica, as you can clearly tell. 2012 marked a milestone in deep sea exploration, with videos and samples of the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean. We are living in our very own modern age of discovery.
Historically, countries have been at each other's throats when it comes to this. Settlers of Jamestown (the first permanent English settlement in America) had to sail inland to settle, avoiding Spanish ships patrolling the east coast. Discovering and colonizing the New World was a race between European countries like the Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, and Dutch.
However, that's not quite what happens anymore. Case in point: this rescue. A Russian ship on relatively unexplored land, saved by the combined efforts of Australian authorities and Chinese rescuers. There are other examples, like the International Space Station, a collaboration between different nations. As a species, we are beginning to work together to advance, rather than racing against each other.
It's an exciting time. I hope 2014 brings more exploration.
Bibliography
Cowell, Alan, and Edward Wong. "Chinese Helicopter Rescues 52 From Ship Trapped in Antarctic Ice." New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/03/world/antarctica-ship.html (accessed 2 January 2014).
Than, Ker. "James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive." National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120325-james-cameron-mariana-trench-challenger-deepest-returns-science-sub/ (accessed 2 January 2014).
Pictography
Peacock, Andrew. "Chinese Helicopter from Icebreaker Xue Long." Photograph. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/03/world/antarctica-ship.html. (accessed 2 January 2014).
Anson,
ReplyDeleteI really liked that your blog post was about a subject that isn't similar to any of the others and is very unique. I also really liked that you mentioned how we are now working together to discover more of our planet than racing against each other. It made me realize that we can do a lot more as a species if we work together. I would challenge you to add a little more detail into your explanation of the Age of Exploration . :)
I really liked how you connected a recent news story to class. I especially enjoyed your writing because I had heard about the story, but I did not know about the three countries working together to help others. Thank you also for including links in your writing so that I could read the article from The New York Times. My only wish was that you included more pictures. Awesome Job!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you connected the past to the present. We often think that exploring is a thing of the past, but in truth, it is perhaps even more important today. You mentioned that exploration was once a competition, but now, it is a global effort. I find that to be a very interesting observation. overall, your post was a fine example of a great blog post. A job well done, Anson.
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