I chose Matthew Flinder’s circumnavigation of Australia for my voyage. I mostly chose this because I have gotten really into Formula One lately and my favorite driver is Australian (Daniel Ricciardo for anyone curious).

I would say my map, which was created in 1875. Shows a fairly sophisticated knowledge of geography and how best to convey it using cartography. There are only a few spots where my map did not fit our current understanding of what the world, and specifically Australia, looks like. In terms of how using this technology of comparing a historic map juxtaposed to a current one affects our understanding. For me personally, it was very helpful to be able to see the differences and similarities between the two to get a better understanding of how we thought of the world at that time, and overall how the scope of our knowledge has changed. However, I can also see there being more confusion brought on by this process. For my map, specifically, it was pretty similar to how we map modern-day Australia. These similarities could lead people to believe we knew more about the world at certain times than we actually did. Caputo cites the ways in which map making developed and benefited us as people began circumnavigating the globe. Things like track lines, planispheres, and atlases transformed how people viewed the world and were able to go on voyages of their own, exploring and forming trade routes. Modern-day digital tools give us elevated versions of this by showing us something beyond where things are and how to get there. They can also teach us about our past, how we operated, how we’ve changed, and how we can utilize these new tools to shape our future.