NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Paper by Bill and Merri Carter
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2010 Nov 23, 21:44 -0000
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2010 Nov 23, 21:44 -0000
Richard Langley brought attention to the following abstract of a paper in the latest issue of The Journal of Navigation. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard B. Langley"To: Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 7:12 PM Subject: [NavList] Paper by Bill and Merri Carter RIN members might want to be on the lookout for a paper in the latest issue of The Journal of Navigation: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7896219 Title and abstract: The Age of Sail: A Time when the Fortunes of Nations and Lives of Seamen Literally Turned with the Winds Their Ships Encountered at Sea This paper examines the evidence to support the view that the inability of seamen to determine accurate longitude at sea in sailing ships was a major factor in the loss of ships and crews that was effectively solved by the introduction of the marine chronometer. It concludes that this was not the case and that a more compelling factor for the safety of ships was the introduction of mechanical propulsion systems. -- Richard Langley ========= From that, I deduce that Richard has read the abstract, but not the paper itself, though he doesn't say so. Frank Reed followed that with another posting on the same subject, from which I deduce that he has not read the paper either, but he doesn't say so. I have read it, and subsequently had quite a bit of correspondence with one of the authors, Bill Carter. My advice to Navlist members is that the should not bother with this paper, which does not fulfil the promise of its abstract. If anyone would like to discuss it in more detail, I would be quite happy to take it further, but otherwise it does not seem to me to be worth the expenditure of digital dots. George. contact George Huxtable, at george@hux.me.uk or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222) or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.