NATS 1840 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Stirrup, Horse Collar, Scientific Revolution

• School: York University
• Department: Natural Science
• Course: NATS 1840
• Professor: Ian Slater

Document Summary

Sc-nats 1840 lecture 4 - science, technology and colonial expansion. 15th century capitalism, international trade and european expansion, new resources and land. Technology (sailing ships, telescopes, clocks) and science (astronomy) and navigation, discovery and conquest, colonialism. Aside: technology and navigation: mathematical equations: time, distance, angle, longitude or latitude, angles (sextants), direction (compass), position (telescopes), time (mechanical clock) Trade, conquest and colonization, population shifts, war and disease. Christopher columbus, 1492, francisco pizzaro, 1532, cajamarca, Success attributed to efficiency and psychological impact of guns. 4-1/2 million sq km (peru + chile + mexico + ecuador), 504,782 sq kmspain. Europeans advantages: horses (combat, speed, endurance), steel (weapons and armor), infectious diseases (decimating populations), centralized states (resources for colonization), writing + printing to gain information. Number and accuracy of guns, decreasing psychological impact. New world populations eventually adopted horse and guns. Combat advantages of horses: vantage point, defense of height, speed, maneuverability, armor. Steel weapons versus quilted armor, steel armor.