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Europeans searched in vain for a Northwest Passage for 300 years, losing many ships and crews; those who returned had been marooned for months or years in ice. What made them keep looking? Why would they continue to think open water existed somehwhere, despite all evidence to the contrary?

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Europeans searched in vain for a Northwest Passage for 300 years, losing many ships and crews; those who returned had been marooned for months or years in ice. What made them keep looking? Why would they continue to think open water existed somehwhere, despite all evidence to the contrary?	955