Thursday, February 08, 2007
Chapter 22: Asian Transitions
The Straits of Malacca are worth talking about.
And the way that Europeans got there was the caravel ship (mentioned on p. 501)
For some reason, I became interested in cinnamon when I read this chapter (see p. 504). Apparently, the word, in Malay and Indonesian languages sounds like kayu manis and means "sweet wood".
I thought the Dutch monopoly control of the spices in the East Indies (top of p. 505) was kind of toubling -- it felt like the opposite of what we are trying to do today with endangered places such as rainforests.
When the book mentioned the Muslim-ruled southern island Mindannao, it would have been nice to provide a map.
And the way that Europeans got there was the caravel ship (mentioned on p. 501)
For some reason, I became interested in cinnamon when I read this chapter (see p. 504). Apparently, the word, in Malay and Indonesian languages sounds like kayu manis and means "sweet wood".
I thought the Dutch monopoly control of the spices in the East Indies (top of p. 505) was kind of toubling -- it felt like the opposite of what we are trying to do today with endangered places such as rainforests.
When the book mentioned the Muslim-ruled southern island Mindannao, it would have been nice to provide a map.
# posted by Mr. G : 3:29 AM
