| The Barefoot Navigator Contributor(s): Lagan, Jack (Author) |
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ISBN: 1574092324 ISBN-13: 9781574092325 Publisher: Sheridan House OUR PRICE: $17.96 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2006 Annotation: The Barefoot Navigator is an unusual and fascinating exploration of the skills of navigation employed by the ancients and transferable to the present day. The first half of the book investigates the navigation capabilities of seafarers long before modern navigation instruments or charts became available. For example, how did the Polynesians manage to populate an area of ocean larger than North America simply by analyzing clouds, currents, wind direction, sun, stars, and the flight patterns of ocean birds? And how did the Vikings routinely travel between Iceland, Greenland and Scandinavia???huge tracts of treacherous water? The second part of the book analyzes how the techniques of the ancients can be employed by 21st century seafarers to supplement today's navigational hardware???especially in survival situations. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Sports & Recreation | Sailing |
| Dewey: 623.892 |
| LCCN: 2006003657 |
| Physical Information: 0.3" H x 6.7" W x 9.6" (0.92 lbs) 148 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The Barefoot Navigator is the most innovative book about marine navigation for decades. Jack Lagan believes there is nothing so valuable at sea as standing on a deck and just knowing where you are using special knowledge about the sea and the sky and using your senses--in other words, practical technology-free navigation. Part 1 looks at the navigation achievements of the ancient seafarers--the Pacific islanders, the Vikings, the Phoenicians, the Arabs and the Chinese. Just how did the South Pacific islanders manage to populate every habitable island in an area bigger than North America? And did the Phoenicians really circumnavigate Africa 2,000 years before Vasco de Gama? Part 2 explains how to use the wind, swell, sun and stars to estimate position and hold a course. And how sea breezes, isolated clouds and seabirds can make a landfall safer. Part 3. shows how you can use DIY devices to calculate latitude, obtain bearings and estimate longitude. Part 4 describes how all these techniques can be used in survival situations The Barefoot Navigator is about wayfinding from what you can see around you and what you have in your head. It will fascinate navigators and landlubbers alike. |