Fake History

[Lord Baal]

I think at least in one sense he did discover it insofar as he popularised it. Abel Tasman's rutters weren't well known outside the Netherlands and to the best of my knoweldge weren't released into the public domain until considerably later.

I think it was more that the British had a useful purpose in mind for it, whereas the Dutch didn't care one whit about it, than he popularised it. Australian history seems to teach that he was the first guy to ever come across both Australia and New Zealand, raising the rather interesting question of how Tasmania and New Zealand received their names.

 

[Masada]

I think it was more that the British had a useful purpose in mind for it, whereas the Dutch didn't care one whit about it, than he popularised it. Australian history seems to teach that he was the first guy to ever come across both Australia and New Zealand, raising the rather interesting question of how Tasmania and New Zealand received their names.

I've always understood that the Dutch were usually very reluctant to hand out their rutters -- charts, soundings, log books etc -- which tended to be rather beneficial to them insofar as it denied the knoweldge to their enemies and gave them a significant headstart in any Imperialism they had a hankering to do. For instance, I don't believe that Cook had access to the Dutch charts and had to do the majority the sounding, mapping etc himself.

 

[Lord Baal]

I've always understood that the Dutch were usually very reluctant to hand out their rutters -- charts, soundings, log books etc -- which tended to be rather beneficial to them insofar as it denied the knoweldge to their enemies and gave them a significant headstart in any Imperialism they had a hankering to do. For instance, I don't believe that Cook had access to the Dutch charts and had to do the majority the sounding, mapping etc himself.

That wasn't unusual. The early parts of the fabulous book Shogun is pretty much based around Blackthorne's attempts to steal Portuguese rutters. I seem to remember that he was serving on a Dutch ship, and they were reluctant to give him access to their rutters, even though he was both a member of their crew and from an allied nation. Portugal attempted to hide their rutters from Spain even when they were under Spanish rule.

The British may not have had Dutch rutters, but they certainly knew where Australia was located. I would imagine they had access to at least a few stolen maps, though I could well be mistaken. Besides, Cook mapped the Eastern half of Australia. Even if he'd had Dutch charts, they'd have only helped him with parts of New Zealand and Tasmania.

 

[privatehudson]

Has anyone mentioned the wonderful Erich von Daniken yet? I used to read his books when I was a younger and a lot more naive. Now the only fake history I read tends to be of a more historical nature as the "Lost Cause" bunch.

 

[ParkCungHee]

von Daniken is great stuff from a fiction perspective. I've read more then one story based on his thesis. Good stuff. Terrible history.

 

[Lord Baal]

Has anyone mentioned the wonderful Erich von Daniken yet? I used to read his books when I was a younger and a lot more naive. Now the only fake history I read tends to be of a more historical nature as the "Lost Cause" bunch.

I've got his first five books. I enjoy reading fake history in order to laugh at it, but only if I'm not giving a profit to the author. Libraries or 2nd hand bookshops for me.

 

[Plotinus]

Many authors get money if their books are borrowed from libraries. (Not much, admittedly, but still.)

 

[Lone Wolf]

Fomenko.

Enough said.

 

[Lord Baal]

Many authors get money if their books are borrowed from libraries. (Not much, admittedly, but still.)

I doubt Erich Von Daniken is drawing money from me buying his books for $0.20 Australian dollars when Blacktown City Council has a clearance sale on old books. For that matter, I'm not sure how any author could profit from me hiring their book from an Australian public library, all of which are free. So long as you're not late taking a book back, you don't pay anything.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

"x" can be seen from space, with "x" usually being the Great Wall. It is simply not wide enough, it doesnt matter how long it is.

Actually, that is partially true - the Great Wall can be seen from space; ie from low earth orbit (by the naked human eye, to say nothing of satellites). So can cities at night (through their lights), the wakes of large ships at sea, and lots of other stuff.

But if I recall, the original claim was that the Great Wall could be seen from the moon - definitely false, but as it was a claim first made in the 1930s it took a while to be fully debunked.

 

[Lord Baal]

It is simply not wide enough, it doesnt matter how long it is.

That's what she said.

 

[North King]

I doubt Erich Von Daniken is drawing money from me buying his books for $0.20 Australian dollars when Blacktown City Council has a clearance sale on old books. For that matter, I'm not sure how any author could profit from me hiring their book from an Australian public library, all of which are free. So long as you're not late taking a book back, you don't pay anything.

The library has to buy the book.

 

[Plotinus]

The library has to buy the book.

Not only that, but some libraries pay authors a small amount depending on how often their books are taken out. This is so even though the person borrowing the book doesn't pay anything - it's part of the running costs of the library. I don't know whether this is common practice in Australia though.

 

[Lord Baal]

The library has to buy the book.

I know that much, but they're not getting any more money from the library whether I hire it out or not, so I'm not giving them a profit. I once worked in a library over here, and I can say that it didn't do what Plotinus describes, so I doubt any other public libraries in Australia do it either. Of course, I could be wrong on that.

 

[Agent327]

Not only that, but some libraries pay authors a small amount depending on how often their books are taken out. This is so even though the person borrowing the book doesn't pay anything - it's part of the running costs of the library. I don't know whether this is common practice in Australia though.

It is in the Netherlands. (But I can't speak for the EU.)

 

[North King]

I know that much, but they're not getting any more money from the library whether I hire it out or not, so I'm not giving them a profit. I once worked in a library over here, and I can say that it didn't do what Plotinus describes, so I doubt any other public libraries in Australia do it either. Of course, I could be wrong on that.

By checking it out, you're making the book look more attractive to other libraries.

 

[Lord Baal]

By checking it out, you're making the book look more attractive to other libraries.

Not when it's no longer in print. And our public libraries tend to exchange books among themselves rather than buying multiple copies of the same book anyway, at least within the same region.