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Frank wrote:
> Longitude by lunar altitudes is typically TEN TIMES less accurate than
> longitude by lunar distances.

How have you calculated this, Frank?

When you write, about the clearing of lunar distance:
> The mathematical difficulty is minimal.

It seems to me that what you are saying is that I, Frank Reed, think
it is fairly easy.

What I have proposed is that a perception of this difficulty, held by
many mariners who could have been assisted by lunars, has prevented
them ever becoming widely appreciated and used.

It is a tribute to the navigators (and American education and
ingenuity?) who filled out the logbooks you have referred to, that
they apparently were familiar with lunars and used them with ease. My
own readings of nautical happenings, including passages of boats well
into the twentieth century, from a variety of countries and cultures,
indicates that the navigational prowess on many smallish craft
(including trading ships) was quite limited.

Its difficult to argue with people's perceptions. They might be wrong,
but your saying as much will rarely change the way they think - and
has even less chance of changing the way they thought in the past!

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