Editing Commercial revolution (section)

===Technological factors===
[[File:Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, by Abraham Ortelius, World, 1572.jpg|thumb|In 1570 (May 20) Gilles Coppens de Diest at [[Antwerp]] published 53 maps created by [[Abraham Ortelius]] under the title ''[[Theatrum Orbis Terrarum]]'', considered the "first modern atlas".  Latin editions, besides Dutch, French and German editions appeared before the end of 1572; the atlas continued to be in demand until about 1612. This is the world map from this atlas.]]
From the 16th to 18th centuries, Europeans made remarkable maritime [[innovation]]s. These innovations enabled them to expand overseas and set up colonies, most notably during the 16th and 17th centuries. They developed new [[sail]] arrangements for ships, skeleton-based shipbuilding,<ref>{{cite book |author=Marcus Rautman |title=Daily life in the Byzantine Empire |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn |year=2006 |page=150 |isbn=0-313-32437-9 }}</ref> the Western "galea" (at the end of the 11th century), sophisticated navigational instruments, and detailed [[chart]]s and maps.
After Isaac Newton published the ''[[Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]'', navigation was transformed, because sailors could predict the motion of the moon and other [[celestial object]]s using Newton's theories of motion.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Family Magazine| page=436 | year=1838 | publisher=Redfield & Lindsay}}</ref> Starting in 1670, the entire world was measured using essentially modern latitude instruments. In 1676, the British Parliament declared that navigation was the greatest scientific problem of the age and in 1714 offered a substantial [[Longitude rewards|financial prize]] for the solution to finding longitude. This spurred the development of the [[marine chronometer]], the [[lunar distance method]] and the invention of the [[octant (instrument)|octant]] after 1730.<ref>{{cite book |author=Haven, Kendall F. |title=100 Greatest Science Inventions of All Time |publisher=Libraries Unlimited |location=Littleton, Colo |year= 2006|page=69 |isbn= 1-59158-264-4 }}</ref> By the late 18th century, navigators replaced their prior instruments with octants and sextants.