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Robert H. van Gent,

Here is a WEB site with some history and information on the IDL,
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/faq/docs/international_date.html
along with a lot on navigation when you return back
page:  http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/AAmap.html

Maybe it will help you.

Bill Pettyplace

At 01:23 AM 1/8/00 +0100, you wrote:
>Dear list members,
>
>A (belated) Happy New Year and fair sailing to all.
>
>During the past year I have been collecting information for a paper on
>the history of the International Date Line (IDL) but I have discovered
>that reliable literature on this topic is very scarce. Everyone of
>course knows what the IDL is and where it is located ("look it up in
>your atlas") but its precise course over the waters of the Pacific has
>varied much during the past few centuries (even without taking the 1995
>adjustment of Kiribati into account). Having traced the course of the
>IDL on a number of authoritative 20th-century atlases, I ended up with
>as many different delineations.
>
>Apparently, most 20th-century cartographers have traced the course of
>the IDL following that in the publications of the hydrographical
>departments of the British and American Navy. One publication in
>particular appears to be the most authoritative, the so-called "Pacific
>Islands Pilot" which has been regularly issued by both departments.
>
>Unfortunately, this publication is not easy to obtain from Dutch library
>collections and I hope that by addressing this list I may be able to
>gather more information - probably some of you on the list own a copy of
>the "Pacific Islands Pilot" or have easy access to one.
>
>I have put up a small web page with a questionnaire that I hope to be
>able to fill in with your help. It is located at:
>
>   http://www.fys.ruu.nl/~vgent/idl/idl.htm
>
>I would be most grateful if anyone on this list who owns or who has easy
>access to any edition of the "Pacific Islands Pilot" can communicate to
>me the therein listed co-ordinates of the great circle segments
>delineating the IDL. This would greatly help me in reconstructing a
>history of the IDL.
>
>Any suggestions for literature on the history of the IDL will also be
>appreciated.
>
>Best wishes,
>
>================================================================
>* Robert H. van Gent * Tel/Fax:  00-31-30-2720269              *
>* Zaagmolenkade 50   * E-mail:   r.h.vangent@astro.uu.nl       *
>* 3515 AE Utrecht    * Home page (under construction):         *
>* The Netherlands    *         http://www.fys.ruu.nl/~vgent/ *
>================================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bill Pettyplace                       NWS, Aviation Weather Center
816-584-7252 Office voice             7220 NW 101st Terrace, Rm 101
816-880-0650 Office FAX               Kansas City, MO  64153-2371
888-934-1241 Pager (Numeric only)
William.Pettyplace@noaa.gov    -or-   wpettyplace@awc.kc.noaa.gov
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

   

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