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How did Christopher Columbus' discoveries change the image of the world and the maps used by explorers?

How did Christopher Columbus' discoveries change the image of the world and the maps used by explorers? Please help. My cousin have a project on him and I'm trying to help him but I can't find it. Please help.

Public Comments

1. at christopher columbus's time, north and south america weren't discovered yet, so between asia and europe and africa, people thought there was only atlantic ocean. so since columbus discovered north and south america, he discovered a whole new continent and whole new landmass and changed people's view on the world forever.
2. Pretty good Kitty, except that there was actually a prevailing thought that the world was not circumnavigate. Most people still believed it to be flat and therefore no ocean or continents between. Also, by defining the globe spherical it helped to give definition to the degrees of longitude and latitude, still referred to as minutes east and west as they were measured by how far one could go in a given amount of time. Perhaps most importantly, since powered propulsion was not in use, it defined the trade currents that could carry a ship between continents even when trade winds were not favorable. Good luck and God Bless.