NavList:

I wrote previously:
"Of course, in a subject as small as celestial navigation, individuals have a big impact. And while Lindbergh used dead reckoning to cross the Atlantic, he was soon quoted in the media talking about the importance of celestial navigation. And when Lindbergh spoke, people listened. He was a superstar of that period. Lindbergh, and his wife, too, were taught celestial navigation by none other than P.V.H. Weems, who did so much to modernize and standardize celestial navigation back then. I suspect a good case can be made that Weems was that individual who was most instrumental in giving the skill of navigating by astronomical means the name that we use today, both by having Lindbergh's ear and by his direct influence on the education of a generation of navigators."

I forgot to include a link to a little two-page article from "Popular Science" from 1928:
http://books.google.com/books?id=dCcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53

The title of the article is "Teaching 'Lindy' Navigation". On the second page of the article, there's a photo captioned "students seeking to qualify as officers on American ships". Notice the instrument in the hand of the student on the far left. That's an old octant and even in 1928 it was probably at least 80 years old...

-FER

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