Birds do it, bees do it, even educated salmon do it – and all with a precision that we have only just begun to match. The contributions to navigation made by Galileo and John Harrison are well-known, and the work of others – such as Michael Faraday and Elmer Sperry – can at least be guessed at. But what about Igor Sikorsky, Arthur C. Clarke and Albert Einstein? If the back-staff was such an improvement over the cross-staff, why did the Dutch East India Company ban it from their ships? How did Deptford Sailing Club (estab.1514) get put in charge of pilotage and buoyage, and why did their successors finally settle on red and green, which many of us can’t distinguish? How did the nuclear submarine USS Skate find Ice Station Alpha in 1959, when the “station” had no idea where it was? Which prehistoric navigational device played a vital part in the moon landings? Why did the astronauts come back younger than if they’d stayed at home, and how does this affect your satnav? And how did the Polynesians and the Vikings find their way around, centuries before GPS?
Thanks to Jeremy for stepping into the breach to present this lecture, following the unfortunate cancellation of the one originally scheduled.
Please note: lectures can be watched live online but we do not generally make recordings available after the event, for a number of reasons relating to time and copyright issues.
Date: Wednesday 5 February 2025
Time: 19:00
Place: CA House or, for the webinar broadcast via Zoom, your own home or boat
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