Скачать или смотреть Richard Di Giacomo presents Italian Explorers

Book Review: “The New Man and the New World: The Influence of Renaissance Humanism on the Explorers of the Italian Era of Discovery. – by: Richard Di Giacomo
I was absolutely fascinated by Di Giacomo’s book on Italian explorers. Columbus, Vespucci, Verrazzano and Cabot (Caboto), are revealed with all their faults and glories. In this book you will not only learn about the adventures of these historically important sailors, but also about the times they lived and the transition from the dogmatic past to the new ideas of humanist thought that take us from the steadfast devotion of proclamations from the ancients to the new knowledge of empiricism that was based on factual events and experience.
Why were the Italians so well adapted to the exploration and navigation of the seas? And why did Italy not participate in the colony building and the land grabs that other European nations did? We get answers to these questions as we relive the lives of these Italian navigators, their children, their relatives, and their patrons.
The many original documents: letters, legal proceedings, and declarations, give us a real sense of not only those transitional times, but also of some of the confusion that resulted from literary style of the documents and the competition between the sailors and the respective countries they represented.
For me, this book has sparked a personal interest in the technological instruments of those times. The compass, quadrant, astrolabe, and sextant were scientific advancements that the historic Italian sailors used to guide their journeys. Richard's "Explorers of the Italian Era of Discovery" is a well written exploration and research into the Italian Renaissance explorers.