NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Maskelyne and Cook
From: Patrick Goold
Date: 2011 Mar 24, 22:18 -0400
From: Patrick Goold
Date: 2011 Mar 24, 22:18 -0400
I have been reading Beaglehole's bio of James Cook. While Beaglehole is full of lat/long numbers and often expresses his admiration for the accuracy of Cook's longitudes, he hasn't so far (I'm on page 381) given any specific info on how Cook got these longitudes. Looking for a nav guide contemporaneous with Cook, I found a copy Maskelyne's "British Mariner's Guide: Containing complete and easy instructions for the discovery of the longitude at sea and land". My question is, is Maskelyne's method similar to what Cook was using? The astronomer royal has not appeared so far in B's account except as a name. Did Cook know of his work and did he use it?
Best,
Patrick
--
Dr. Patrick Goold
Department of Philosophy
Virginia Wesleyan College
Norfolk, VA 23502
757 455 3357
Charles Olson: "Love the World -- and stay inside it."
Best,
Patrick
--
Dr. Patrick Goold
Department of Philosophy
Virginia Wesleyan College
Norfolk, VA 23502
757 455 3357
Charles Olson: "Love the World -- and stay inside it."