Menzies contends that a large Chinese fleet, official ambassadors of the Emperor, arrived in Tuscany in 1434 where they met with Pope Eugenius IV. A mass of information was given by the Chinese dilatation to the Pope and his entourage concerning world maps (which Menzies argues were later give to Columbus). astronomy, mathematics, art, printing, architecture, steel manufacture, civil engineering, military machines, surveying cartography, and genetics. This gift of knowledge sparked the inventiveness of the Renaissance—Da Vinci’s inventions, the Copernican revolution, Galileo, and much more.
The author gives ample evidence that the Chinese invented and discovered many things before the Western World did, and introduced them into Europe in the mid-fifteenth century. Much of this history deals with the complex minutia of mathematical astronomy, using terms and calculations that will leave most listeners in the dust. Narrator Simon Vance livens things up with credible accents--Italian, Latin, Chinese, and French. Otherwise reading with an upper-class British accent, he dominates the highly technical language with aplomb. The author refers listeners to his website for elaborations, a difficult feat for digital readers on the go. Even with such an outstanding narrator as Vance, this highly technical work does not work well in audio. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
About the Author
GAVIN MENZIES was born in 1937 and lived in China for two years before the Second World War. He joined the Royal Navy in 1953 and served in submarines from 1959 to 1970. In the course of researching 1421, he visited 120 countries, over 900 museums and libraries, and every major sea port of the late Middle Ages. He is married with two daughters and lives in North London.
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