Taking the Stars
Subtitle: Celestial Navigation from Argonauts to Astronauts
By: by Peter Ifland.
Publisher: Mariners' Museum; Krieger Pub. Co.
Published: November 1, 1998
Place of publication: Newsport News, Va; Malabar, Fla
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 222
Subjects: Nautical instruments -- History.
Description: An early astrolabe, its name derived from Greek words for "star" (astron) and "to take" (lambanein), was an instrument with which a navigator "took the stars" to determine a vessel's position in the great expanse of the sea. From the simple wooden kamál developed by ancient Arab mariners to the modern navigator's electronic global positioning system, Taking the Stars: Celestial Navigation from Argonauts to Astronauts$I traces the long path of ingenious inventions developed for celestial navigation. Renowned collector Peter Ifland applies his talent for clear, engaging prose to describe the incremental improvements, world-changing advances, and well-intentioned failures that have marked the evolution of celestial navigation instruments for over 1,000 years. Two panoramas converge in these lavishly illustrated pages. One is a parade of wonderful--and often, wonderfully clever--devices for celestial navigation: among others, the kamál, the cross-staff and back-staff, the astrolabe, and the marvelous variations on the divided celestial circle--the half-circle, quadrant, quintant, sextant, octant, and their kin. The other panorama is a carefully delineated roll-call of the great craftsmen and inventors of celestial navigation instruments--the likes of Thomas Godfrey, Captain John Davis, John Dollond, Edward Nairne, John Hadley, and Jesse Ramsden.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-209) and index.
Table of contents: title: Contents; title: List of Illustrations; title: Preface; title: Introduction; label: Chapter 1
title: Evolution of Celestial Navigation Instruments: A Short History; label: Chapter 2
title: Longitude by Lunar Distance: The Big-Angle Problem and the Birth of the Sextant; label: Chapter 3
title: Instrument Form and Structure; label: Chapter 4
title: Scales, Verniers, and Micrometers; label: Chapter 5
title: Optics: Mirroes, Prisims, Filters, Sighting Tubes, and Telescopes; label: Chapter 6
title: Artificial Horizons; label: Chapter 7
title: Reflecting Instruments for Surveying, Coastal Sounding, and Cartography; label: Chapter 8
title: Finding Distance by Measuring Angles; title: Chapter 9:Aircraft Celestial Navigation Instruments; title: Epilogue; label: Appendix:
title: Patents; title: Glossary; title: Suggested Reading; title: Index