1434

by Menzies, Gavin

• ISBN13: 9780061492181
• ISBN10: 0061492183
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-13
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

The brilliance of the Renaissance laid the foundation of the modern world. Textbooks tell us that it came about as a result of a rediscovery of the ideas and ideals of classical Greece and Rome. But now bestselling historian Gavin Menzies makes the startling argument that in the year 1434, China-then the world's most technologically advanced civilization-provided the spark that set the European Renaissance ablaze. From that date onward, Europeans embraced Chinese ideas, discoveries, and inventions, all of which form the basis of Western civilization today.The New York Times bestselling author of 1421 combines a long-overdue historical reexamination with the excitement of an investigative adventure, bringing the reader aboard the remarkable Chinese fleet as it sails from China to Cairo and Florence, and then back across the world. Erudite and brilliantly reasoned, 1434 will change the way we see ourselves, our history, and our world.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xi
Setting the Scene
A Last Voyage	p. 3
The Emperor's Ambassador	p. 7
The Fleets are Prepared for the Voyage to the Barbarians	p. 17
Zheng He's Navigators' Calculation of Latitude and Longitude	p. 29
Voyage to the Red Sea	p. 39
Cairo and the Red Sea-Nile Canal	p. 49
China Ignites the Renaissance
To the Venice of Niccolo da Conti	p. 63
Paolo Toscanelli's Florence	p. 83
Toscanelli Meets the Chinese Ambassador	p. 94
Columbus's and Magellan's World Maps	p. 101
The World Maps of Johannes Schoner, Martin Waldseemuller, and Admiral Zheng he	p. 110
Toscanelli's New Astronomy	p. 132
The Florentine Mathematicians Toscanelli, Nicholas of Cusa, and Regiomontanus	p. 141
Leon Battista Alberti and Leonardo Da Vinci	p. 155
Leonardo Da Vinci and Chinese Inventions	p. 166
Leonardo, Di Giorgio, Taccola, and Alberti	p. 177
Silk and Rice	p. 197
Grand Canals China and Lombardy	p. 206
Firearms and Steel	p. 216
Printing	p. 231
China's Contriblition to the Renaissance	p. 238
China's Legacy
Tragedy on the High Seas Zheng he's Fleet Destroyed by a Tsunami	p. 257
The Conquistadores' Inheritance our Lady of Victory	p. 278
Acknowledgments	p. 289
Notes	p. 311
Bibliography	p. 331
Permissions	p. 347
Photograph Credits	p. 351
Index	p. 353
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