The Essay and the Age of Discovery

In 1492, Columbus transformed Europeans’ understanding of the world. Not by proving that the world was round—most people believed that already. But rather by discovering lands and peoples that had not been known to the ancients. In an era that gave great weight to Greek and Roman learning, Columbus stumbled on something wholly new—what Harari calls “The Discovery of Ignorance.”

For class, please read the first two sections of Harari Ch 14 (stop reading when you get to the heading “The Scientific Dogma”) as well as an essay by Michael Hall titled “The Emergence of the Essay and the Idea of Discovery,” posted among the readings on our Blackboard site.

For homework, respond to one of the following prompts, posting under the appropriate heading below:

• Hall argues that the essay owes something fundamental to the ethos of the Age of Discovery, while Harari suggests that the Age of Discovery was fundamental to the invention of modern science. If so, should we conclude that there is something “scientific” about essay writing? Explain why or why not in a brief ¶.
• How does Hall’s understanding of the essay differ from Wampole’s earlier in the term? If you need a refresher, her speech can be viewed here.