The Oxford Companion to World Exploration - Tapa dura

The more than 700 well-organized entries are written in a straightforward and understandable style high-quality reproductions include maps and paintings from the past, as well as excellent modern colour-coded maps delineating dates and routes of key voyages. (School Library Journal)

Every article is written and signed by a prominent scholar in the field of exploration studies. All entries offer further reading recommendations...Recommended. (Choice)

This illustrated reference work covers all aspects of world exploration from Antarctica to the North Pole; from the discovery of the New World to the age of space exploration. The companion features 750 articles, carefully selected by a distinguished group of editors and advisers to examine exploration from different angles: thematically, geographically, historically, and biographically. The Oxford Companion to World Exploration is available in a two volume print version and as an e-reference text from Oxford's Digital Reference Shelf.

Topics include:

· Biographies of influential explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan, Cheng Ho, Hernán Cortés, Ibn Battuta, Vitus Bering, and Christopher Columbus

· Navigational and marine sciences, navigational techniques, ancient and medieval navigation, ocean currents and winds, longitude and aerial surveys

· Exploration in ancient cultures including Egypt, Persia, Greece, Byzantium, China, Polynesia, and Rome.

Each entry is signed by a leading scholar in the field and contains a further reading bibliography and is cross-referenced to other useful articles.