Pathfinders: a global history of exploration

1. Stretching : the first trail finders from gathering cultures to great empires

2. Reaching : exploring the oceans to about a thousand years ago

3. Stirring : landward explorations in late antiquity and the middle ages

4. Springing : the maritime turn of the late Middle Ages and the penetration of the Atlantic

5. Vaulting : the great leap forward of the 1490s

6. Girdling : connecting global routes, c.1500-c.1620

7. Connecting : global reconvergence, c.1620-c.1740

8. Deepening : enhancing the world-picture, c.1740s-c.1840s

9. Globalizing : the narrowing horizon, c.1850-c.2000.