NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Gottingen collection
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2006 Jul 3, 15:03 -0500
Peter Fogg has written about the collection of material from Cook's
voyages by the University of Gottingen, in Germany. That's
interesting; I had no idea such a link existed.
In a report from a newspaper, one wouldn't expect every detail to be
accurate, and here's an example.
"Although he carried an early chronometer on one trip, Cook himself
thought that the longitude problem had been solved by lunars. "
Well, Cook actually carried a chronometer on his second and his third
voyages of exploration, but not on his first. Cook found it very
useful, and said so in his journal, on several occasions. But on such
voyages, away from known longitudes for several years at a stretch,
chronometers were unable to provide times to sufficient accuracy
without being occasionally updated by cross-checking against
astronomical observations, mostly of lunars. Such long voyages were
possible using lunars only, as his first voyage showed, but with
chronometers of the day, would have been difficult, if not impossible,
without lunars, as his later voyages showed. In addition, emergencies
had to be coped with. On one occasion, the one remaining chronometer
was, by accident, allowed to run down, and had to be reset
astronomically. On another, the one remaining chronometer failed
completely, and the voyage was completed under lunars. So, lunars
remained an essential component of Cook's navigation, right through.
There's another connection between Cook's voyaging and the University
of Gottingen, that seems to have been missed. Cook's lunar longitudes
depended on Maskelyne's lunar distance tables in the new Nautical
Almanac, and those tables depended on precise predictions of the
Moon's position by one Tobias Mayer, Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Gottingen. For that work, Mayer (actually, his widow)
was given a part of the Longitude Prize, although most went to
Harrison, for his timepiece.
George.
contact George Huxtable at george@huxtable.u-net.com
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2006 Jul 3, 15:03 -0500
Peter Fogg has written about the collection of material from Cook's
voyages by the University of Gottingen, in Germany. That's
interesting; I had no idea such a link existed.
In a report from a newspaper, one wouldn't expect every detail to be
accurate, and here's an example.
"Although he carried an early chronometer on one trip, Cook himself
thought that the longitude problem had been solved by lunars. "
Well, Cook actually carried a chronometer on his second and his third
voyages of exploration, but not on his first. Cook found it very
useful, and said so in his journal, on several occasions. But on such
voyages, away from known longitudes for several years at a stretch,
chronometers were unable to provide times to sufficient accuracy
without being occasionally updated by cross-checking against
astronomical observations, mostly of lunars. Such long voyages were
possible using lunars only, as his first voyage showed, but with
chronometers of the day, would have been difficult, if not impossible,
without lunars, as his later voyages showed. In addition, emergencies
had to be coped with. On one occasion, the one remaining chronometer
was, by accident, allowed to run down, and had to be reset
astronomically. On another, the one remaining chronometer failed
completely, and the voyage was completed under lunars. So, lunars
remained an essential component of Cook's navigation, right through.
There's another connection between Cook's voyaging and the University
of Gottingen, that seems to have been missed. Cook's lunar longitudes
depended on Maskelyne's lunar distance tables in the new Nautical
Almanac, and those tables depended on precise predictions of the
Moon's position by one Tobias Mayer, Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Gottingen. For that work, Mayer (actually, his widow)
was given a part of the Longitude Prize, although most went to
Harrison, for his timepiece.
George.
contact George Huxtable at george@huxtable.u-net.com
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
