That he tried to add to
the small profits of map-making by trading with sea captains is not
surprising. We can only be sorry that he did not make a handsome profit
out of his ventures, enough for himself and for those who lent him
capital.
We have mentioned that all the men who had a scientific interest in
navigation tried to get to Lisbon. Among those whom Columbus may have
met there, was the great German cosmographer from Nuremburg, Martin
Behaim. Martin helped to improve the old-fashioned astrolabe, an
instrument for taking the altitude of the sun; more important still,
toward the end of 1492 he made the first globe, and indicated on it how
one might sail west and reach Asiatic India. This is the first record of
that idea which was later attributed to Columbus, but which Columbus
himself, until his return from his first voyage of discovery, never even
mentioned. Whether he and Martin Behaim talked together about the route
to India we shall never know. Probably they did not; for when
Christopher importuned later for ships, it was only for the purpose of
discovering "lands in the west" and not for finding a short route to
India. Columbus, though he knew how to draw maps and design spheres,
really possessed but little scientific knowledge. Intuition, plus
tenacity, always did more for him than science; and so it is likely that
he talked more with sailors than with scientists.
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