How Did Christopher Columbus Changed The World
Technological advances have greatly changed our world since the voyages of Christopher Columbus. In the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Columbus´s first voyage went into the Atlantic Ocean in 1476, almost costing him his life. Shortly after this voyage Columbus married Felipa Perestrello and they had one son, Diego. His wife died soon after and Columbus moved to Spain and had his second son, Fernando with Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. Columbus participated in several other expeditions to Africa after his voyage into the Atlantic. Christopher Columbus used many different tools and devices in his voyages.
One tool that Christopher Columbus used in his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean is, he used celestial navigation to find his way on his voyages.
By using celestial navigation you observe the sun, the moon, and the stars to measure your latitude. Every star has a celestial latitude, or declination. If you know the declination of the star directly above you, then it is the same as your latitude on earth. It was usually impossible to measure the longitude. A celestial navigation tool that Columbus used was the nocturnal. The nocturnal determined whether or not it was midnight and told what time of night it was by the rotation of the stars around the celestial pole. The celestial pole is two imaginary points in the sky where the Earth’s axis of rotation intersects the celestial sphere. Another celestial navigation tool that Columbus used to tell time, was the sandglass, also called the hourglass. The sandglass, measures the passage of a few minutes to an hour of time. A ship boy was responsible for turning the sandglass every half-hour in order to measure the time the watch changed. If the sandglass was going too fast, or too slow it could be checked by the sunrise, sunset, or midnight. Columbus also used a magnetic compass. A magnetic compass determined a ship’s direction in reference to the magnetic north.
Another tool that Christopher Columbus used, which was his most important tool in his voyages across the Atlantic was the quadrant. The quadrant was a metal plate that was in the shape of a quarter-circle, with a weight that hung from a string in the center of the circle. A navigator would see the North Star along one edge, and at the point that the string crossed the edge would show the stars altitude. The quadrant was very accurate to about a degree or so. In 1492 Columbus tried to find his latitude using the quadrant and at the time, he was just about 20 degrees North latitude, but the results he had from the quadrant was about 42 degrees. A few days later he tried another reading from the same place and got the same result. Another tool that Columbus used, that was similar to the quadrant was the astrolabe. The astrolabe was a circle of metal, and had a moving arm that the navigator would sight along to find the stars altitude. Columbus only used the astrolabe once on his voyages, bad weather made it difficult for him to use it. The astrolabe and the quadrant both are dependent on gravity to work. The astrolabe was a little less accurate than the quadrant.
In conclusion, the voyages of Christopher Columbus through the Atlantic Ocean would have been much easier if Columbus had the technology we have today. The technology that we have today that would have made it easier for Columbus on his voyages is a GPS also know as the Global Positioning System, a clock or timer, or a CB radio ( Citizen's Band radio) to communicate to his other ships, or the compasses that we use today, or even internet. If Columbus would have had this modern technology his voyages would have been much easier and more accurate.
One tool that Christopher Columbus used in his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean is, he used celestial navigation to find his way on his voyages.
By using celestial navigation you observe the sun, the moon, and the stars to measure your latitude. Every star has a celestial latitude, or declination. If you know the declination of the star directly above you, then it is the same as your latitude on earth. It was usually impossible to measure the longitude. A celestial navigation tool that Columbus used was the nocturnal. The nocturnal determined whether or not it was midnight and told what time of night it was by the rotation of the stars around the celestial pole. The celestial pole is two imaginary points in the sky where the Earth’s axis of rotation intersects the celestial sphere. Another celestial navigation tool that Columbus used to tell time, was the sandglass, also called the hourglass. The sandglass, measures the passage of a few minutes to an hour of time. A ship boy was responsible for turning the sandglass every half-hour in order to measure the time the watch changed. If the sandglass was going too fast, or too slow it could be checked by the sunrise, sunset, or midnight. Columbus also used a magnetic compass. A magnetic compass determined a ship’s direction in reference to the magnetic north.
Another tool that Christopher Columbus used, which was his most important tool in his voyages across the Atlantic was the quadrant. The quadrant was a metal plate that was in the shape of a quarter-circle, with a weight that hung from a string in the center of the circle. A navigator would see the North Star along one edge, and at the point that the string crossed the edge would show the stars altitude. The quadrant was very accurate to about a degree or so. In 1492 Columbus tried to find his latitude using the quadrant and at the time, he was just about 20 degrees North latitude, but the results he had from the quadrant was about 42 degrees. A few days later he tried another reading from the same place and got the same result. Another tool that Columbus used, that was similar to the quadrant was the astrolabe. The astrolabe was a circle of metal, and had a moving arm that the navigator would sight along to find the stars altitude. Columbus only used the astrolabe once on his voyages, bad weather made it difficult for him to use it. The astrolabe and the quadrant both are dependent on gravity to work. The astrolabe was a little less accurate than the quadrant.
In conclusion, the voyages of Christopher Columbus through the Atlantic Ocean would have been much easier if Columbus had the technology we have today. The technology that we have today that would have made it easier for Columbus on his voyages is a GPS also know as the Global Positioning System, a clock or timer, or a CB radio ( Citizen's Band radio) to communicate to his other ships, or the compasses that we use today, or even internet. If Columbus would have had this modern technology his voyages would have been much easier and more accurate.