Who did Christopher Columbus look up to as an inspiration for his explorations?

Christopher Columbus looked up to Marco Polo as a significant inspiration for his explorations. Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and explorer whose travels to Asia in the late 13th century were documented in a book that vividly described the riches and cultures of the East. Columbus was motivated by Polo's accounts of the wealth and wonders of the lands he visited, which fueled his desire to find a westward route to Asia.

The explorations of Columbus were deeply influenced by the desire to expand trade and convert others to Christianity, similar to the themes found in Polo's writings. This longing for exploration and the pursuit of knowledge about distant lands characterized Columbus's understanding of geography and navigation, drawing directly from Polo's adventurous spirit and narrative style.

While other figures like Isaac Newton, Ferdinand Magellan, and Vasco da Gama made significant contributions to exploration and science, they did not have the same direct impact on Columbus's motivations and aspirations. Newton's contributions were more in mathematics and physics, and while Magellan and da Gama were important explorers in their own right, their journeys occurred after Columbus's initial voyages, making them less relevant to his own inspirations.