"In the whole history of human undertakings there is nothing that exceeds this voyage of Magellan's. That of Columbus dwindles away in comparison."
— Ferdinand Magellan
In The Whole History Of Human
In the whole history of human undertakings there is nothing that exceeds this voyage of Magellan's. That of Columbus dwindles away in comparison.
About this quote
This assessment comes from John William Draper's History of the Intellectual Development of Europe (1864), in which he argued that Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation surpassed even Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage in scale and difficulty. Draper's view reflects the historical consensus that Magellan's expedition — departing Spain in 1519 with five ships and returning in 1522 with one — represented the most ambitious feat of navigation of the Age of Discovery. The voyage confirmed the true extent of the Pacific Ocean and established the practical possibility of global maritime trade.
Source
John William Draper, History of the Intellectual Development of Europe