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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Carry on, Mr. Bowditch
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2003 Jan 15, 19:34 -0500
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2003 Jan 15, 19:34 -0500
The Nautical Almanac was first published in the 1760s, about 40 years prior to Bowditch's time. It was published primarily to facilitate the computation of time by observation of distances between the moon and other celestial objects, the classical lunar so much discussed on this list. And the sextant was invented primarily to perform the measurements of those lunar distances to the precision required. A sextant is not needed to observe occultations. So Bowditch did not invent the lunar. But, according to the book on navigation that bears his name, he did markedly simplify the calculations to where they could be performed by ordinary seamen rather than only by those with extremely high proficiency in mathematics. Lunars for the rest of us. I don't know what a three-star lunar is, but others on this list may be able to enlighten us. Fred -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick V. Hebard, PhD Email: mailto:Fred@acf.org Staff Pathologist, Meadowview Research Farms Web: http://www.acf.org American Chestnut Foundation Phone: (276) 944-4631 14005 Glenbrook Ave. Fax: (276) 944-0934 Meadowview, VA 24361
