Ready to relive some of the most daring voyages of all time? Unfold these spectacular cross sections and explore fourteen historic journeys.
Open this dynamic book and discover how the greatest explorers in history -- from Marco Polo to Neil Armstrong -- plunged into the unknown and boldly pieced together the picture of the world we have today. With the help of masterful cross sections, dramatic storytelling, and sidebars that highlight key concepts, places, and technology, immerse yourself in such expeditions as:
--Leif Eriksson's voyage to North America (eleventh century)
--Zheng's travels from China to East Africa (fifteenth century)
--Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe (sixteenth century)
--Tenzing Norgay's and Edmund Hillary's scaling of Mt. Everest (twentieth century)
--Plus ten more exciting journeys!
Back matter includes an index, a glossary, and sources.
Grades 4-8. This handsome book presents 14 journeys of exploration, from Pytheas the Greek in 240 BC to the Apollo moon landing in 1969. Sailors dominate the first half of the book: Leif Eriksson, Marco Polo, Zheng He, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Captain Cook. The second half follows explorers David Livingstone and Mary Kingsley through Africa, Umberto Nobile to the Arctic, Auguste Piccard up into the stratosphere, Jacques Piccard down into the ocean’s depths, and Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the summit of Mount Everest. A glossary and a source bibliography are appended. Clearly written chapters trace the expeditions and underscore the challenges that the explorers faced. Precise, beautifully shaded colored-pencil artwork appears throughout the book and, notably, on a large, foldout sheet tipped into a page of each chapter. From the maps to the drawings of vessels and artifacts to the detailed cutaway views that make each bit of technology more understandable, Biesty’s well-labeled illustrations make this one of the most visually fascinating books available on explorers.