Thor Heyerdahl conceived of an alternative to the common thought of the day for how the pacific islands and perhaps the Americas might have been peopled. Following through with his ideas, he constructed a raft of the materials that might have been used centuries ago, and using the methods known to have been used then. He then set out on a journey to see if it were humanly possible to make one's way across the ocean in that craft. Though I am certainly no expert in geography, population movement, or other relevant fields, nonetheless I found Heyerdah;'s ideas and efforts compelling and fascinating.