- British amateur historian Gavin Menzies received a book
contract Tuesday for the publication of new theory that a Chinese admiral
with a fleet of 100 ships beat Columbus to America and circumnavigated
the globe almost a century before Magellan.
The book is based on 14 years of research that included secret maps, evidence
of artifacts, and apparent proof of the voyage provided by the modern astronomy
software program Starry Night. Menzies created a stir among historians
last Friday when he presented the broad outlines of his theory, but not
the fine points, during a lecture to the Royal Geographical Society in
London.
In an exclusive telephone interview with SPACE.com Wednesday, the 64-year-old
described how he used the software to help solidify his theory. SPACE.com
publishes starry Night.
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- As key evidence for a voyage that will remake history
if the theory proves out, Menzies says he obtained ancient Chinese navigation
charts associated with the travels of Zheng He, an admiral in the emperor's
Navy. The journey ran from 1421 to 1423. Menzies maintains that the ships
sailed around the Southern tips of both Africa and South America.
"I set Starry Night up for dates in 1421 for parts of the world where
I thought the Chinese had sailed," explained Menzies, a navigation
expert and former Royal Navy submarine commander. He found that in two
separate locations of the voyage, easily recognizable stars were directly
above Zheng He's fleet.
Those stars have since moved, due to changes in Earth's orientation in
space. Earth's spin is slightly imperfect, and its axis carves a circle
on the sky every 26,000 years. The phenomenon, called precession, means
that each pole points to different stars as time progresses. Menzies used
the software program to recreate the sky as it would have looked in 1421.
"I had Chinese star charts, and I needed to date the charts,"
he said. "By an incredible bit of luck, one of the courses they steered,
between Sumatra and Dondra Head, Ceylon, was due west."
This part of the journey was very near the equator in the Indian Ocean.
Both Polaris, the North Star, and the bright southern star Canopus, which
was very nearly above the celestial south pole, were on the charts. "From
that I was able to determine the apparent shift of Polaris (due to precession).
I could therefore date the chart to 1421, plus or minus 30 years."
A scientific review of Menzies' research is not possible given the limited
information being released. Phillip Sadler, a celestial navigation expert
at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, says the estimation
of a map's age based on star positions is possible. He said an estimate
within 30 years, as Menzies claims, is possible.
"It depends on how accurately a chart is drawn," Sadler said.
A puzzling rose
On another chart whose coastlines Menzies said he could firmly place, the
Chinese had drawn a rose. Menzies puzzled over its significance.
"I then went to Starry Night and set it up for 52 degrees, 40 minutes
south latitude, between the Falkland Islands and Patagonia." He set
the timeframe to December 1421.
"Lo and behold, Canopus was right above."
The Chinese voyagers had drawn a rose on a map half a world away from Beijing,
Menzies said.
Another chart showed the two leading stars of the Southern Cross, a prominent
constellation, pointing due south. From this, Menzies figures Zheng He's
fleet, which numbered more than 100 ships when it set sail, was skirting
the ice of Antarctica.
He also uncovered documents in which the Chinese describe a warm-water
lagoon nestled in the ice. Such a lagoon exists nowadays at Deception Island.
So Menzies went back to his home computer to do a little more celestial
archeology. Again, he instructed Starry Night to go back in time, to reconstruct
the sky above Deception Island in late 1421.
"Lo and behold, the leading star of the Southern Cross was right above."
Logical analysis
Sadler, like other navigation experts and historians, is eager to learn
the full details from Menzies' book, to learn whether history must be rewritten
to relegate Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan to second place
in their respective endeavors.
"There's a definite logic to his analysis," Sadler said of these
latest details provided by Menzies. He added that the fact that Menzies
had found celestial clues in multiple charts was a good sign. "The
more stuff that fits, the better."
But Sadler wonders exactly what the ancient Chinese maps look like; a secret
Menzies has no plans to release prior to the book's publication.
"Everybody is waiting to see what this guy produces," Sadler
said.
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- Menzie's book will be published by Transworld Publishing
and is expected out in hardback in the United States and the United Kingdom
in September. A separate publisher will handle the U.S. distribution and
has not yet been announced. Rights for other countries are being negotiated.
Copyright © 2002 SPACE.com.
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