Terra cognita
Subtitle: the mental discovery of America
By: Eviatar Zerubavel ; with a new preface by the author.
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Published: 2003
Place of publication: New Brunswick, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 164
Subjects: Geography -- History.; Geography -- Psychological aspects.; America -- Discovery and exploration.; America -- Discovery and exploration -- Psychological aspects.
Description: "In Terra Cognita, Eviatar Zerubavel argues that physical encounters are only one part of the complex, multifaceted process of discovery. Such encounters must be complemented by an understanding of the true identity of what is being discovered. The small group of islands claimed by Columbus to have been discovered off the shores of Asia was a far cry from what we now call America. The discovery of the New World was not achieved in a single day but was a slow process - mental as well as physical - that lasted almost three hundred years. By celebrating 1492 as a year of discovery, we inevitably distort the reality of history."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [145]-153) and index.
Originally published: New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, c1992.