NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Classification of the methods for clearing the Lunar Distance
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2003 Apr 10, 17:10 -0400
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2003 Apr 10, 17:10 -0400
I'm sending this again because it didn't seem to make it onto the list archive, which is where I read the list. I was browsing through the chapter on methods of sight reduction in the 1962 edition of Bowditch, and came across several items of interest First, in regard to George Huxtable's comment about the poor old practicing navigators becoming confused, the sheer number of methods of sight reduction must have been confusing. Numerous analog-type computers were devised for sight reduction. Second, in regard to Bruce Stark's method of clearing lunar distances, Bowditch says haversines were not used in navigation until the turn of the 20th century, although they had been used previously in astronomy. Gaussian logarithms for use in navigation were first developed for use during World War II, but the developer died before a complete method could be implemented. I don't believe Bruce Stark would be violating the copyrights of the Navigation Foundation if he were to outline his method of clearing lunar distances, only if he were to copy the article published in their newsletter. This thread motivates me to attempt such an outline, but I am obligated by the U.S. government at this time of year to go through a tedious compilation of my income, and sometimes to then pay them money after all that work!