NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Rocky Mountain Lunar Distance
From: Paul Middents
Date: 2002 Dec 15, 20:14 -0800
From: Paul Middents
Date: 2002 Dec 15, 20:14 -0800
I am thoroughly impressed by Arthur Pearson's field test of the calculated altitude LD method as used by Lewis and Clark. His explanation is lucid and exciting. Well done! Arthur asks: > I would be most interested in any articles or books that document the > use of these procedures by sea captains of the era as thoroughly as > Preston and Gottfred document their use in the heart of the continent. Andrew MacKay in his "Theory and Practice of Finding the Longitude at Sea or Land" (London 1810) describes the method of calculated attitudes for finding the longitude when the horizon is obscured. He recommends the method particularly for use on land when the observer does not have a proper artificial horizon. While I don't believe MacKay had extensive sea going experience, his text books on navigation were considered among the most authoritative at the turn of the 19th century. Paul Middents