Navigational Instruments

by Richard Dunn

With over two-thirds of the globe covered by water, the ability to navigate safely and quickly across the oceans has been crucial throughout human history. As seafarers attempted longer and longer voyages from the sixteenth century onwards in search of profit and new lands, the tools of navigation became ever more sophisticated. The development of instruments over the last five hundred years has seen some revolutionary changes, spurred on by the threat of disaster at sea and the possibility of huge rewards from successful voyages. As this book shows, the solution of the infamous longitude problem, the extraordinary impact of satellite positioning and other advances in navigation have successfully brought together seafarers, artisans and scientists in search of better ways of getting from A to B and back again.

80 pages, ebook

First published May 24, 2016

About the author

Richard Dunn (1966-) is the Senior Curator and Head of Science and Technology at Royal Museums Greenwich. Richard is Keeper of Technologies and Engineering at the Science Museum, London, which involves managing a team of curators, as well leading on content and delivery of galleries, exhibitions and research and on the development of the collections. He has worked in the museum sector since 1992 in a range of curatorial and interpretation roles at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science in Cambridge, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Ragged School Museum, the British Museum, English Heritage and Royal Museums Greenwich.

Reviews

[Michal Paszkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a compact book that outlines the history of marine navigation. There are some great pictures of examples of navigational tools straight from the National Maritime Museum and a discussion of why innovation was needed and how the tools developed.

It is a very accessible book that can be read by anyone.