Britain didn't "discover" most of the globe - they chose to raape most of the peoples and countries they bumbled upon.

Had they not bumbled into Asia (and do please read up on the Opium Wars) and "liberated" the Chinese invention of gunpowder, they would not have been nearly as successful s they were.  
"Were" being operative right now.

There's a reason not everyone dates "enlightenment" to the mechanical, time and geography you relate.  General rule to the "west" or not.