9781422279250

11

Going to Extremes

The lands to the north of North America were mostly unknown for millennia. Globes such as this one often showed more water and less land than was actually there.

looking for a northwest passage, but the idea itself stayed very much alive. A northwest passage was finally found—but it took about 400 years! By that time there were new goals for exploring the Arctic, however. The biggest was getting to the North Pole. The Unknown Southern Land For most explorers, the Arctic offered fame and fortune. Did the Antarctic have the same prizes? No one knew. In fact, until the late 1700s, no one knew for sure that Antarctica even existed!