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Table for Finding the Distance of Observed Terrestrial Objects at Sea
From: Robert H. van Gent
Date: 2022 Jun 9, 09:27 -0700
From: Robert H. van Gent
Date: 2022 Jun 9, 09:27 -0700
Hi,
Navigation handbooks from the second half of the 18th century and later usually feature a table giving the horizon distance as function of the observer’s eye height.
So far, the earliest English table of this kind that I have found is in the first edition (1754) of John Robertson’s The Elements of Navigation, online here
https://archive.org/details/elementsofnaviga00robe/page/560/mode/2up
I am currently investigating a similar Dutch table published in 1737 and I would like to know if there are perhaps even earlier examples.
Both the English and the Dutch tables do not account for atmospheric refraction.
rvg
