NavList:

   

Reply

I have completed a preliminary review of the short Lunar Distance
clearing method proposed by Thomas Arnold, which I shall henceforth
entitle Arnold's Method, as contained in his "The American Practical
Lunarian and Seaman's Guide", published at Philadelphia, PA, in 1822.
An abstract is attached, providing the rules for working this method,
as well as a description of the tables utilized by the author to
facilitate
the working thereof. Taken as a whole, Arnold's book is more
descriptive of the Lunar Distance method than are either Bowditch
or Norie, although the theory on which the actual solution is based
remains rather secretive - it is unfortunate that this book seems rather
rare and that the author has received little or no recognition for his
apparently unique and perhaps purely American contribution to the art.

According to himself, Arnold was an American Shipmaster of some
40-years experience at sea, including 28-years as Master. It is during
this time that he claims to have developed the method presented, and
claims also to have utilized it for 5-years at sea in manuscript prior to
publication. He, by the way, states an expected accuracy in the use
of Lunars of from 10 to 15 miles. At one point in time he operated a
school of navigation at Philadelphia for the purpose of teaching the
Lunar method.

I have prepared a work format for Arnold's method and will shortly
try it for accuracy and convenience against other methods, of which
there are perhaps over a hundred, although few have actually been
published.

File:

   

Reply