Mapping the World

S01 E03 • Sunday, May 2, 2010 • May 2

Maps offer visions of distant lands, tempting explorers to plunder and conquer. However, adventurers first had to tackle the great challenge of mapping the globe onto a flat surface. The father of geography, Claudius Ptolemy, had some clever ideas. Explorers like Christopher Columbus sailed into the unknown in search of riches and discovered a whole new continent that would become the most powerful on earth, while Amerigo Vespucci gave it his name. Sir Walter Raleigh's treasure map of Eldorado in South America ultimately lost him his head. But the myth of Eldorado lived on, sending hundreds of men to their death in fruitless attempts to find the golden city. As navigation became easier, maps enabled nations and enterprises like the Dutch East India Company to plunder far-off territories for spices, natural resources and gold.