Topic: Johannes Ruysch

The discussion focuses on 16th and 17th-century cartography, specifically the work of Matthias Quadt and Gerhardus Mercator. Hubbard explains that these maps often depicted four large islands at the North Pole, a feature also found on the 1507 Johannes Ruysch map used by Christopher Columbus. Hubbard argues that Columbus was searching for missing landmasses rather than a route to a flat earth's edge.