Charles H. Hapgood (1904–1982)

MAPS OF THE ANCIENT SEA KINGS:EVIDENCE OF ADVANCED CIVILIZATION IN THE ICE AGE

While searching for the earliest map of Antarctica, I heard about the Piri Reis Map of 1513 and the Oronce Fine (Oronteus Finaeus) Map of 1531. And in due course came across this book. I had my reservations, based on some of the info I had read, about Hapgood (as well as the Map librarian at LOC telling me he was a nut), but I feel that in this book he makes an interesting case for his hypothesis of an early seafaring/map making culture(s). Many of his theories about the maps he and his students examined are backed up by other experts and even military cartographers. Yet after digesting what I'd read a little more and reading "The Piri Reis Map of 1513" by Gregory C. McIntosh [see my review], Hapgood makes a number of assumptions and, at times, disregards or distorts evidence in order to better make his case. I think my lack of prior knowledge in this area made it more believable. Also, even though this book contains a lot of cartographic and mathematical descriptions, it is still quite readable for the average person. Finally, this edition (1966) could have had better (in color and sharper) pictures of the maps.… (meer)

I don't mind admitting that all the references to spherical trigonometry were beyond me (I'm no mathematician and certainly no cartographer), but I don't think that spoiled the book's overall impression. To me, the reasoning of Professor Hapgood and his students is perfectly sound: the maps in question appear to indicate that at some point prior to recorded history, Earth was host to an advanced civilization which mapped the entire planet, including Antarctica when its coastlines were free of ice. The curious fact is not that such maps existed for sixteenth-century cartographers like Piri Reis and Oronteus Finaeus to copy, but that the civilization responsible for them had otherwise vanished without a trace. There is absolutely no indication of who these people might have been, what they called themselves or from which corner of the globe they emerged. Hapgood does not mention Sumer, the earliest known civilization, but notes that the last time Antarctica's coasts were ice-free was about 6,000 years ago; perhaps not so coincidentally, this is when the Sumerian civilization began under circumstances that remain mysterious even today.… (meer)