From Sails to Satellites - Softcover

J.E.D. Williams

Softcover

ISBN 10: 019856399X ISBN 13: 9780198563990

Publisher: Oxford University Press Oxford 1994, 1994

Synopsis

Developments in navigational science can be traced from beginnings twenty-three centuries ago when the Greeks tried to calculate latitude to the present when satellite systems can easily pinpoint positions to within millimetres. The history of navigational science offers vivid insights into the areas of human endeavour which have driven it: the need for discoverers such as Columbus to locate and claim distant lands for their sovereigns and paymasters; the need of merchants in a world of expanding horizons and trade for efficient and reliable shipping; the new and urgent needs of rapidly developing air travel where safety demands accurate and quick navigation in very difficult conditions; the deadly needs of the military in targetting missiles and sailing submarines in radio silence. This book is intended for general readers with a direct interest in navigation: amateur sailors and pilots. General readers with an interest in the history of technology and science and the impact of technology on travel, trade, and discovery.

About this title

About the Author:

About the Author:
J.E.D. Williams has been Chief Navigator of Argentine Airlines and El Al Airlines, the managing director of Britannia Airways, and a past president of the Royal Institute of Navigation.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Oxford 1994
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 019856399X
• ISBN 13: 9780198563990
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 319