The Body as Object and Instrument of Knowledge: Embodied Empiricism in Early Modern Science

of these tools, which of course fulfils the purpose of an introduction to present-day navigation. In this final discussion the author returns to a theme he previously touched upon and which is often missing in histories of navigation: the fact that ‘the growth of a mathematical science of navigation and its delivery into practice through the use of instruments was making cultural boundaries less important than before ́, that navigation is an ‘international discipline’ now embodied in a number of international organizations like the International Maritime Organization (IMO) or the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). This international cooperation can readily be seen in the specialist publications of the national hydrographic institutions which began in the nineteenth century; it went so far that even during the Second World War astronomical data for nautical purposes were still shared between the nations at war. Fittingly nowadays the study of the history of navigation is also an international endeavour. In a concentrated overview of a vast topic one cannot expect that all hotly-debated questions will be answered. I personally would have liked a firmer stance on doubtful topics like the Viking ‘sun stone’ (p. 21; no evidence for this exists apart from latter-day physical experiments and fanciful interpretations of one or two obscure references in the Norse sagas) and the alleged ‘Nautical school’ of Henry the Navigator at Sagres (a myth that was thoroughly debunked by Portuguese scholars in the early twentieth century). There are also a few mistakes that one may expect in a book covering such a vast topic: Pedro de Medina was Cosmographer at the Casa de Contratación, not Pilot Major (p. 65); the first time ball (although only experimental) was erected in 1829 in Portsmouth, not in Greenwich (p. 89) and the Board of Longitude first met as a board in 1737, not in 1731 (p. 74). But these are minor issues that do not lessen the value of its narrative in any way. In writing such a concise summary for a lay public it is of no use to add footnotes: the reader will probably not follow them anyway. To help the reader to a deeper understanding of the subject the author therefore proposes a whole shelf of useful and well-researched books for further reading. This selection has a slight bias towards works in the English language and— apart from the seminal work of Peter Campbell on the portolan chart and Peter Whitfield’s The Charting of the Oceans (1996) — does not invite the reader to read more about the sea chart, which (in my opinion) is the most important invention in the history of navigation. But that may reflect the author’s affinity for, and deep knowledge about, instruments. As the description of instruments, methods and astronomical facts in such a condensed text must refer to technical terms that the reader is not usually familiar with, the author has provided a very useful glossary of terms; for a quick check of topics andpersons there is also a seven-page index. All in all, if youwant to have a precise and readable introduction to the history of navigation, this is the right book.