Navigation

A Very Short Introduction

Price: 350.00 INR

We sell our titles through other companies
Disclaimer :You will be redirected to a third party website.The sole responsibility of supplies, condition of the product, availability of stock, date of delivery, mode of payment will be as promised by the said third party only. Prices and specifications may vary from the OUP India site.

ISBN:

9780198733713

Publication date:

17/04/2017

Paperback

152 pages

174x111mm

Price: 350.00 INR

We sell our titles through other companies
Disclaimer :You will be redirected to a third party website.The sole responsibility of supplies, condition of the product, availability of stock, date of delivery, mode of payment will be as promised by the said third party only. Prices and specifications may vary from the OUP India site.

ISBN:

9780198733713

Publication date:

17/04/2017

Paperback

152 pages

Jim Bennett

Covers all the major navigational cultures in history, discussing the methods used in navigation across the years,Introduces the instruments used for navigation, from astrolabes and compasses to modern satellite equipment,Shows how the science of navigation was driven by commercial aspirations, and shaped by practical and political factors as well as intellectual ones,Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over seven million copies sold worldwide

Rights:  OUP UK (INDIAN TERRITORY)

Jim Bennett

Description

From the Bronze Age mariners of the Mediterranean to contemporary sailors using satellite-based technologies, the history of navigation at sea, the art of finding a position and setting a course, is fascinating. The scientific and technological developments that have enabled accurate measurements of position were central to exploration, trade, and the opening up of new continents, and the resulting journeys taken under their influence have had a profound influence on world history.

In this Very Short Introduction Jim Bennett looks at the history of navigation, starting with the distinctive cultures of navigation that are defined geographically - the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. He shows how the adoption of mathematical methods, the use of instruments, the writing of textbooks and the publication of charts all combined to create a more standardised practice. Methods such as longitude-finding by chronometer and lunar distance were complemented by the routine business of recording courses and reckoning position 'by account'. Bennett also introduces the incredible array of instruments relied on by sailors, from astrolabes, sextants, and chronometers, to our more modern radio receivers, electronic equipment, and charts, and highlights the crucial role played by the individual qualities of endeavour and resourcefulness from mathematicians, scientists, and seamen in finding their way at sea. The story of navigation combines the societal, the technical, and the human, and it was vital for shaping the modern world.


ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.


About the author

Jim Bennett, Keeper Emeritus, Science Museum, London

Jim Bennett is a historian of science who has held curatorial posts in national museums in London and in university museums in Cambridge and Oxford, where he was Director of the Museum of the History of Science. He has been President of the British Society for the History of Science and of the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science. He is currently President of the Hakluyt Society. His books include The Divided Circle: a History of Instruments for Astronomy, Navigation, and Surveying (Phaidon-Christie's, 1987), and London's Leonardo: the life and work of Robert Hooke (OUP, 2003), with Michael Cooper, Michael Hunter, and Lisa Jardine.

Jim Bennett

Table of contents

1:Early navigational cultures
2:Medieval and Renaissance learning and practice
3:A mathematical science
4:Dead reckoning, longitude and time
5:The zenith of the mathematical seamen
6:The electronic age
Further Reading
Index

Jim Bennett

Jim Bennett

Jim Bennett

Description

From the Bronze Age mariners of the Mediterranean to contemporary sailors using satellite-based technologies, the history of navigation at sea, the art of finding a position and setting a course, is fascinating. The scientific and technological developments that have enabled accurate measurements of position were central to exploration, trade, and the opening up of new continents, and the resulting journeys taken under their influence have had a profound influence on world history.

In this Very Short Introduction Jim Bennett looks at the history of navigation, starting with the distinctive cultures of navigation that are defined geographically - the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. He shows how the adoption of mathematical methods, the use of instruments, the writing of textbooks and the publication of charts all combined to create a more standardised practice. Methods such as longitude-finding by chronometer and lunar distance were complemented by the routine business of recording courses and reckoning position 'by account'. Bennett also introduces the incredible array of instruments relied on by sailors, from astrolabes, sextants, and chronometers, to our more modern radio receivers, electronic equipment, and charts, and highlights the crucial role played by the individual qualities of endeavour and resourcefulness from mathematicians, scientists, and seamen in finding their way at sea. The story of navigation combines the societal, the technical, and the human, and it was vital for shaping the modern world.


ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.


About the author

Jim Bennett, Keeper Emeritus, Science Museum, London

Jim Bennett is a historian of science who has held curatorial posts in national museums in London and in university museums in Cambridge and Oxford, where he was Director of the Museum of the History of Science. He has been President of the British Society for the History of Science and of the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science. He is currently President of the Hakluyt Society. His books include The Divided Circle: a History of Instruments for Astronomy, Navigation, and Surveying (Phaidon-Christie's, 1987), and London's Leonardo: the life and work of Robert Hooke (OUP, 2003), with Michael Cooper, Michael Hunter, and Lisa Jardine.

Table of contents

1:Early navigational cultures
2:Medieval and Renaissance learning and practice
3:A mathematical science
4:Dead reckoning, longitude and time
5:The zenith of the mathematical seamen
6:The electronic age
Further Reading
Index