Geographic discoveries and modern geography

From ancient times people tried to know their own land well, discovered new lands and drew the simplest maps. In the 3rd century BC Eratosthenes calculated the size of the Earth quite accurately and made a world map, and in the 2nd century AD Ptolemy made a more complete one. Among our ancestors, Muhammad al-Khwarizmi (783–850) wrote “Surat ul-Arz”; Abu Rayhon Beruniy (973–1048) built a globe of the Northern Hemisphere and wrote that there is land on the far side of the globe too; Mahmud Koshgari (11th century) and Nosir Khisrav (1004–1088) also left their mark with maps and travel books. Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur (1483–1530) described the nature of the Fergana valley, Afghanistan and India in the “Baburnama”. In 1492 Columbus reached America and in 1498 Vasco da Gama sailed around Africa to India; the expedition begun by Magellan (1519–1522) sailed round the world and proved that the Earth is a sphere. In 1820 Bellingshausen and Lazarev discovered Antarctica. Today geographers use computers, space images and artificial satellites.