"Magellan's Route in the Pacific"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the reasons put forth by George E. Nunn in his article about Magellan, which argue that the historical account of Magellan's route is inaccurate because it is based on the unreliable log of Francisco Albo. The paper discusses the three discrepancies that Nunn points out in his article and concludes that, in spite of the plausibility of Nunn's thesis, the article falls short of being completely verifiable.

From the Paper:

"Nunn cites three main discrepancies regarding the route specifically. First, where Magellan actually set off to cross the Pacific from South America is unclear because of the wide variances in crew logs. As the author states, "The wide variations among the several calculations and their variance from the truth, where discoverable, are sufficient to show their questionable value," (621). To illustrate his point, Nunn offers maps and charts and geographical information such as longitudinal points. Similarly, the question of where Magellan initially veered westward from the continent can only be answered through thorough investigation of the explorers' geographical possibilities. Nunn also notes that major discrepancies in the journal entries make this question difficult to answer but that Albo's log is definitely unreliable. According to Albo, Magellan turned west at latitude 32 degrees south on December 19, 1590."

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