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    II N - A - V - Ig A - T - Io - D - A - LL - D - M - A - T - H - e - Ffi - A - T - Ic - S

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    Dewan Olin Chotepadae
    The document discusses the history of navigation and how it became an important science after 15th century voyages opened new trade routes. Sailors began using astronomical instruments adapted from land-based versions to determine their position at sea. Finding longitude precisely remained a challenge until the development of more accurate timekeeping devices.

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    II N - A - V - Ig A - T - Io - D - A - LL - D - M - A - T - H - e - Ffi - A - T - Ic - S

    Uploaded by

    Dewan Olin Chotepadae
    17 views2 pages
    The document discusses the history of navigation and how it became an important science after 15th century voyages opened new trade routes. Sailors began using astronomical instruments adapted from land-based versions to determine their position at sea. Finding longitude precisely remained a challenge until the development of more accurate timekeeping devices.

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    The document discusses the history of navigation and how it became an important science after 15th century voyages opened new trade routes. Sailors began using astronomical instruments adapted from land-based versions to determine their position at sea. Finding longitude precisely remained a challenge until the development of more accurate timekeeping devices.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as RTF, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as rtf, pdf, or txt
    17 views2 pages

    II N - A - V - Ig A - T - Io - D - A - LL - D - M - A - T - H - e - Ffi - A - T - Ic - S

    Uploaded by

    Dewan Olin Chotepadae
    The document discusses the history of navigation and how it became an important science after 15th century voyages opened new trade routes. Sailors began using astronomical instruments adapted from land-based versions to determine their position at sea. Finding longitude precisely remained a challenge until the development of more accurate timekeeping devices.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as RTF, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 2

    ~ II----N_a_v_ig=--a_t_io_D_a_ll_d_M_a_t_h_e_ffi_a_t_ic_

    S_________________________________________
    _
    When, at the end of 15th century, Columbus
    crossed the Atlantic and Portuguese mariners
    sailed round Africa into the Indian Ocean, they not
    only opened the way to new continents, but
    inaugurated a new science of navigation. Before
    that, ships had either kept to narrow seas, or used
    regular winds to bring them to known landfalls.
    Now that they had to establish their whereabouts in
    unfamiliar waters, seamen had recourse to the
    instruments of the astronomers, to find their
    location from the positions of Sun and stars.
    Instruments such as the astronomical astrolabe,
    quadrant and Jacob's staff were modified for use
    at sea. Though simpler than the original devices,
    some mathematical training was needed to handle
    them properly. The Spaniards developed a system
    of teaching and certifying pilots to navigate their
    ships. Books on this new art of compass and
    celestial navigation appeared, then were translated,
    pirated, copied and improved. Yet navigation
    remained a tricky business, and none too easy to
    put into practice.

    Time measurement key to navigation


    Finding the longitude was the most difficult
    problem. An observer was obliged to measure how
    many degrees east or west of his origin he was.
    Alternatively, he had to measure the difference in
    time between events in the sky as he observed
    them, against the times predicted for those events
    for a baseline meridian.
    Time, then, was the key. Mechanical clocks,
    driven by falling weights, were a great marvel when
    they first appeared in northern Italy about 1300. But
    although they might be good enough to tell the
    hours for cathedrals, or town halls, they were bulky
    and not very precise. Clocks driven by springs were
    introduced in the late 15th century. As they could
    be much more compact and portable, they became
    popular with those who could afford them, hung
    from the neck as a pendant. But they were even less
    accurate than the others.
    A ~ 'f' Astrolabes such as

    this one made in Toledo in


    1068 (above) were
    introduced to Europe from
    Babylonia by Alexandrian
    Greek and, later, Arab
    scholars. The a. trolabe was

    used in the Middle Ages to


    determine the position of
    celestial bodies, height of
    buildings, latitude, and
    time. Astrolabes were used
    only briefly in navigation,
    from the late 15th century.
    In the 16th century the
    simpler quadrant (right)
    enjoyed widespread use.
    Sailors were soon
    employing instruments
    such as the backstaff
    (below, top). By the 18th
    century navigators'
    instruments included the
    octant or Hadley's quadrant
    and the sextant (below
    right and left).

    '--~-- -.::: ,~-=::-:: ~- -- -,- -

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