What is going on now is a big change, as big as the change in worldview as Columbus’ exploration of America, Tord said in todays lecture. It made me think that this first of all changed the western view of the world. Therefore I would like to mention two other explorers:
I am sure you have heard of Marco Polo. Bu have you ever heard about Ibn Battuta? Battuta was a moroccan scholar and traveller who lived from 1304-1368. For more than 30 years he made travels which covered North and West Africa, Southern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Central and Southeast Asia and China. As an explorer he overgoes his near-contemorary Marco Polo.
And have you ever heard of Zheng He? I had not before I visited Dubai and saw a model of his huge ship (se picture) In front of Zheng Hes ship you can see a model of the small ship Christopher Columbus used to explore America.
Zheng He (traditional Chinese: 鄭和; simplified Chinese: 郑和; pinyin: Zhèng Hé; Wade-Giles: Cheng Ho; Birth name: 馬三寶 / 马三宝; pinyin: Mǎ Sānbǎo; Arabic/Persian name: حجّي محمود شمس Hajji Mahmud Shams) (1371–1433), was a Hui Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who made the voyages collectively referred to as the travels of «Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean» (Chinese: 三保太監下西洋) or «Zheng He to the Western Ocean«, from 1405 to 1433.
Zheng He led seven expeditions to what the Chinese called «the Western Ocean» (Indian Ocean). There are speculations that some of Zheng’s ships may have traveled beyond the Cape of Good Hope.
Zhengs fleet contained ships bigger than any other in the history of wooden ships. His own ship is described like this in Wikipedia:
- Treasure ships, used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (nine-masted, about 126.73 metres (416 ft) long and 51.84 metres (170 ft) wide), according to later writers. This is more or less the size and shape of a football field. The treasure ships purportedly could carry as much as 1,500 tons. 1[27][28] By way of comparison, a modern ship of about 1,200 tons is 60 meters (200 ft) long [1], and the ships Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492 were about 70-100 tons and 17 meters (55 ft) long.[29]
So be aware: In our world view we are the center. We discover the rest of the world, but did they discover us?
Lars Egelands blogg 
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