Early Mapping of the Pacific: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers and Cartographers Who Mapped the Earth's Greatest Ocean

by Thomas Suárez

With dozens of rare color maps and other documents, Early Mapping of the Pacific follows the story of map-making, exploration and colonization in the Pacific Ocean.

It covers the history of ocean exploration from 16th century Portuguese mariners to 20th century explorers and includes a cornucopia of rare and beautiful maps of the Pacific Ocean, in particular, of Hawaii, Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand, among other Pacific Islands and territories. Early Mapping of the Pacific traces the exploration and charting of the great ocean through cartography, following the story from classical times through the turn of the twentieth century, telling the tales of seafarers who ventured eastward from Asia and were the Pacific's greatest explorers.

Chapters include:
The Pacific Islands and Their People
Mariners, Mapmakers and the Great Ocean
The Pacific Evolves after Magellan
In the Wake of the Solomon Islands
Earliest Mapping of Australia and New Zealand
The Age of Enlightenment
The Three Voyages of James Cook
The Discovery of Tahiti and Hawaii
Micronesia, the Elusive Isles
Surveyors, Whalers and Missionaries

Genres: History, Geography

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Dara Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

If nothing else, this gave me a previously unimagined appreciation for how remarkable Captain Cook's skill as a navigator and cartographer was. It's a little unclear in labeling the Austral islands as their own separate chain of islands, but they are mentioned here and there, mainly in the context of the Society Islands. There's a lot of reproductions of historical charts, which in turn gives the reader a newfound appreciation of the accuracy of current satellite imagery!

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

173 - 2016