Gunnar Thompson has been a lifelong critic of traditional history. In the third grade, he was asked "Who discovered America." He replied: "The Indians"--thinking they were here before everybody else. The teacher said he was wrong, and she supplied the name of the approved male hero. In grad school at the University of Wisconsin, he was again asked the same question. This time, he added: "the Egyptians, the Chinese, the Romans and the Greeks."

Outraged professors promptly invited him to leave the Ph.D. program. Since then, he has earned a Ph.D. in psychology; and he has published numerous books on early New World discovery. In 2005, he was invited to give a presentation on Zeng He and Marco Polo at the Library of Congress. In 2006, he was invited to Beijing, China, to authenticate the 1418 Ming Map of the World.

Why bother with ancient history? If it is true, as they say, that the Past is the Key to the Future, then we had better learn what really happened in the Past--or things in the States will be as mucked up as they are right now. I am an optimist, because the Internet has opened up the sharing of information to the global community.