The history of navigation is complex, encompassing world history, astronomy and mathematics. Navigation comes from the Latin, navigatus, meaning to drive a ship (Oxford, 2013). Early navigators were more in tune with astronomical bodies and cycles; there were no lights, so the stars were much more noticeable than they are today (Clark, 2003; Kuhn & Divestco, 2008). In their world, the earth was the center of the celestial sphere and they noticed that the stars moved across the sky in predictable patterns (Clark, 2003; Kuhn & Divestco, 2008). In 1200 B.C. Phoenicians developed a method for navigation based upon the stars (Macleod, 2010). Along with other navigational techniques, Polynesians sailed through and around the Pacific islands using the stars including the sun to guide them (Heyerdahl, 1978; Kuhn & Divestco, 2008), and they used stars at or near the horizon because they rose and set at the same latitude regardless of the season (Clark, 2003; Kunh & Divestco, 2008).
As early as 330 B.C. Pytheas, the Greek mathematician, astronomer and explorer used a gnomon to measure the latitude of Massalia, which is present day Marseille (Macleod, 2010; Pinotsis, 2005). His calculations were correct to within 1 degree (Pinotsis, 2005). A translation from from Sanskrit in 434 A.D. regarding things a navigator must know included, “He knows the course of the stars...” thus proving that the Arabs also used the stars (Cardoza, 2006). In 1492, Christopher Columbus plotted his course through celestial navigation, and “ran down the latitude” by traveling west along the same latitude until he reached his destination (Heyerdahl, 1978), using either an astrolabe (Macleod, 2010) or a quadrant (Ifland, 2003).
Arab navigators on the Indian Ocean also traveled by celestial navigation (Clark, 1993; Ifland, 2003; Macleod, 2010), and in 1500, Ibn Majid an Arab explorer and navigator is documented to have used over seventy stars and the navigational triangle, or spherical triangle to navigate and also using a technique called “fettering” (Clark, 1993), which was essentially a way to run down the latitude, just as Columbus had done. Although the Arab techniques for calculating latitude were much more sophisticated than those in the western world, and they were able to adjust for slight differences in position due to season, and orbit (Clark, 1993), they were still limited by their inability to calculate longitude.
As early as 330 B.C. Pytheas, the Greek mathematician, astronomer and explorer used a gnomon to measure the latitude of Massalia, which is present day Marseille (Macleod, 2010; Pinotsis, 2005). His calculations were correct to within 1 degree (Pinotsis, 2005). A translation from from Sanskrit in 434 A.D. regarding things a navigator must know included, “He knows the course of the stars...” thus proving that the Arabs also used the stars (Cardoza, 2006). In 1492, Christopher Columbus plotted his course through celestial navigation, and “ran down the latitude” by traveling west along the same latitude until he reached his destination (Heyerdahl, 1978), using either an astrolabe (Macleod, 2010) or a quadrant (Ifland, 2003).
Arab navigators on the Indian Ocean also traveled by celestial navigation (Clark, 1993; Ifland, 2003; Macleod, 2010), and in 1500, Ibn Majid an Arab explorer and navigator is documented to have used over seventy stars and the navigational triangle, or spherical triangle to navigate and also using a technique called “fettering” (Clark, 1993), which was essentially a way to run down the latitude, just as Columbus had done. Although the Arab techniques for calculating latitude were much more sophisticated than those in the western world, and they were able to adjust for slight differences in position due to season, and orbit (Clark, 1993), they were still limited by their inability to calculate longitude.