History of Navigation

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Aust, Siegfried. Ships! Come Aboard. Minneapolis: Lerner, 1993. Navigation, pirates, the age of exploration, and other historical information about ships. Good illustrations. Ages 5-10.

Borden, Louise. Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2004. Elementary level.

Clough, Fred. Sal T. Dog: One Stormy Night at Pickle Light. Camden, Me: Down East Books, 1990. A story in rhyme about a lighthouse keeper and his wife. Ages 4-8.

Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries. The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1991. Good illustrations of shipbuilding, rigging, and navigation instruments. Ages 8-12.

Fleming, Candace. Women of the Lights. Morton Grove, IL: A. Whitman, 1996. True stories of women who lived and worked in lighthouses, including Abbie Burgess of Matinicus Island, Maine. Contains many historic photographs. Upper elementary grades through middle school.

Gibbons, Gail. Beacons of Light: Lighthouses. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1990. Ages 4-8.

Latham, Jean Lee. Carry on, Mr. Bowditch. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1955. Biography of the young man who became a mathematician and navigator and authored The American Practical Navigator—known as the “sailor’s bible.” Ages 9-14.

Morrison, Taylor. The Coast Mappers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2004. The story of George Morrison, who mapped the Pacific coast in 1850, when merchant ships from Maine were carrying passengers to the Gold Rush. Information on charts and navigation. Very good illustrations. Ages 9-12.

Scarpino, Jane. Nellie the Lighthouse Dog. Mt. Desert, Maine: Windswept House, 1993. Ages 4-8.

Smith, A.G. Where am I? The Story of Maps and Navigation. Toronto, Canada: Stoddart Kids, 1997. Thorough history of navigation going back to ancient times, readable and clear for ages 9-12.

HIGH SCHOOL/ADULT BOOKS
Bowditch, Nathaniel. The American Practical Navigator: An Epitome of Navigation. Washington, DC: U.S. G.P.O., 2002. Published since 1802, since 1867 as a U.S. government document. This is considered to be the “sailor’s bible” for navigation. Good history of navigation overview in the first chapter.

Calder, Nigel. How to Read a Nautical Chart. Interpreting the Symbols on a Nautical Chart. Camden, ME: International Marine, McGraw-Hill, 2003. Many illustrations.

Cutler, Thomas J. Dutton’s Nautical Navigation, 15th ed. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2004. Thorough coverage of all aspects of navigation.

De Wire, Eleanor. Guardians of the Lights: The Men and Women of the U.S. Lighthouse Service. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1995. Includes stories of Maine lighthouse keepers.

Ifland, Peter. Taking the Stars: Celestial Navigation from Argonauts to Astronauts. Newport News, VA: Mariners’ Museum, 1998. A fine richly illustrated history.

Marcus, Jon. Lighthouses of New England. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press, 2001. The history of the US Lighthouse Service.

Rogers, Cedric. Sailing Ships. London: Camden House Books, 1984. Historic photographs, including navigational instruments.

Sobel, Dava, and William J.H. Andrews. The Illustrated Longitude. New York: Walker, 2003,1998.  This book was the subject of a documentary.  It describes the prize offered in Britain to the person who could solve the problem of accurate identification of longitude at sea.

Waters, David W. The Art of Navigation in England in Elizabethan and Early Stuart Times. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958.

Williams, J.E.D. From Sails to Satellites. A History of Navigation. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 1992.

WEB PAGES
Celestial Navigation website: http://www.celestialnavigation.net/. Has history information and other links.

Celestial Navigation website: http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/0203-1-10-instruments/home.htm. Originates from math department of the National University of Singapore. Includes information on instruments, with links to other sites.

Nautical Almanac On-Line: http://www.tecepe.com.br/scripts/AlmanacPagesISAPI.isa. Includes many years of nautical almanacs and provides a star finder.

Navigation in the days of John Cabot: http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/navigate.html. Shows navigational instruments of the 16th century, as used in voyages to Newfoundland by John Cabot.