North America - History - General & Miscellaneous, Geography - General & Miscellaneous, Americas - Exploration & Discovery, General & Miscellaneous Americas History, Cultural & Historical Geography

Terra Cognita

Name: Terra Cognita
Author: Eviatar Zerubavel
ISBN: 9780813518985

by Eviatar Zerubavel

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Overview

In Terra Cognita, Eviatar Zerubavel argues that physical encounters are only one part of the complex, multifaceted process of discovery. Such encounters must be complemented by an understanding of the true identity of what is being discovered. The small group of islands claimed by Columbus to have been discovered off the shores of Asia was a far cry from what we now call America. The discovery of the New World was not achieved in a single day but was a slow process - mental as well as physical - that lasted almost three hundred years. By celebrating 1492 as a year of discovery, we inevitably distort the reality of history.

About the Author, Eviatar Zerubavel

Eviatar Zerubavel is professor of sociology at Rutgers University. He is also the author of Patterns of Time in Hospital Life, The Seven-Day Circle, Social Mindscapes, The Clockwork Muse, and Time Maps. Eviatar Zerubavel is professor of sociology at Rutgers University. He is also the author of Patterns of Time in Hospital Life, The Seven-Day Circle, Social Mindscapes, The Clockwork Muse, and Time Maps.

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Editorials

Library Journal

Here comes yet another Columbiana publication. The author's thesis is that the New World was discovered not by Columbus, and not in a single day, but rather in a slow, 300-year process that ended when Europeans finally figured out that the land they had encountered wasn't connected to Asia. The writing is good, as is the reasoning, and the use of maps to prove points is effective. These black-and-white maps could have been sharper, but there are 31 of them, each an important pre-1600 document; while they would be far more effective in color, the black-and-white versions keep the cost down. This voice of realism--``What's the fuss all about?''--would provide a good contrast in a collection on the quincentennial.-- Mary L. Larsgaard, Univ. of California-Santa Barbara Map & Imagery Lab Lib.

From the Publisher

"Eviatar Zerubavel is one of the most original and versatile scholars in the field of sociology, the kind of man who sees important patterns and relationships where others see only the banalities of everyday life. [Terra Cognita] pulls together history and geography with the sociology of culture, and the result is one that gives new meaning and depth to the notion of discovery." – David S. Landes, Coolidge Professor Emeritus of History and Economics, Harvard University “A fascinating, brightly written and cogently argued work on the power of the geographical imagination to discover and fabricate reality…will delight and stimulate all cognitive geographers and students of the world map, and those concerned with the epistemological standing and psychology of exploration and discovery.” – Yi-Fu Tuan, J.K., University of Wisconsin, Madison