Have you had a chance to see any of these alternative methods of cartography? If so, what was your impression?Īt one point, the author mentions that at the point in time when Burton is trying to get the RGS to support his expedition into central eastern Africa that despite what he might have put on the documents as the purpose of the expedition and despite what any other mission might be (in this case ethnographic, linguistic, and biological in nature), any mission to that area of Africa was considered a failure regardless of outcome if it failed to discover the source of the White Nile (the other two tributaries having already been discovered). What would it have changed if this hadn’t been the case? NonEuropean cartography was often discounted at the time of Burton and Speke. What do you think this says about them? About society of the time as a whole? It is the reason why you see so many sea monsters and land masses that don’t exist. Before this book, what did you know about the Royal Geographical Society (RGS)? Did your opinion change over the course of the book? How so?Īncient cartographers had what is known in the art world as “horror vacui” or fear of blank spaces.
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