Abstract
By the fifteenth century it became evident that the Julian calendar was in error. Over the course of the succeeding two centuries science was driven by this problem, as well as the quest to circle the Earth. A principle necessity to exploration was the development of the ship, a problem involving mechanics. Explorers such as Columbus, Cabral, Magellan, Drake, and Cook all faced challenges involving mechanics
The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church
Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480–1521)
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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
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Allen, D.H. (2014). Finding Our Way. In: How Mechanics Shaped the Modern World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01701-3_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01701-3_6
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