Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Mathematics of Navigation
To the beginner, navigation seems a maze of formulas, a mass of tables and a long list of funny names. In fact, the extremely confused and complicated way of presenting the subject reminds the author of the examinations a licensed electrician has to pass, which are apparently gotten up to reduce the number of licensed electricians. Many who navigate ships are poor mathematicians, and though they may be fine men, good sailors and eficient oficers they are so in spite of their poor mathematics, not because of it. Navigation is a mathematical subject and should be so taught. N 0 one can understand navigation unless he knows some mathematics - arithmetic, geometry, algebra, analytical geometry and plane trigonometry. The author does not consider spherical geometry and trigonometry necessary, and thinks they should be avoided, as will be seen, but it is absolutely necessary that the general astro nomical situation be comprehended. Any one who knows astronomy can skip the chapter headed Right Ascension, as it was written only to cover this point. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
