History’s Greatest Voyages of Exploration

Overview

Embark on humanity’s most daring journeys—from ancient Pacific navigators to Apollo astronauts—in this 24-lecture course on exploration’s pivotal role in shaping our world.

Course No. 3962

Professor Vejas Liulevicius reveals how ambition, science, and cultural encounters drove explorers across oceans, poles, and into space—with triumphs and tragedies that changed history.

Course Content

Ancient & Medieval Explorers

1. Pacific Island Navigators (32 min)
   • How Polynesians populated the Pacific 7,000 years ago

2. Marco Polo’s Silk Road (31 min)
   • The merchant who introduced Europe to China

3. Ibn Battuta’s Muslim World Tour (30 min)
   • 75,000 miles across 14th-century civilizations

Age of Discovery

4. Columbus’ Accidental America (30 min)
   • How a wrong turn launched global exchange

5. Magellan’s Circumnavigation (30 min)
   • First proof Earth was round (with 90% crew loss)

6. Conquistadors’ Ruthless Conquests (29 min)
   • Cortés and Pizarro’s destruction of empires

Scientific Exploration

7. Captain Cook’s Pacific Maps (30 min)
   • Charting Oceania while avoiding scurvy

8. Humboldt’s Ecological Vision (30 min)
   • The scientist who saw nature’s interconnectedness

9. Lewis & Clark’s American West (29 min)
   • Jefferson’s secret mission across Louisiana

Polar & Space Frontiers

10. Race to the South Pole (30 min)
    • Amundsen’s win vs. Scott’s tragic defeat

11. Mariana Trench Dive (30 min)
    • 1960’s descent to Earth’s deepest point

12. Apollo’s Earthrise Moment (31 min)
    • How space exploration reshaped human perspective