Explore the history of navigation beginning with the European spice trade through the space age. Learn about the era of global exploration and the astronomers, scientists, mathematicians and inventors that made it possible to fix a ship’s position to within one mile. We will look at the development of modern technologies, when electronics and satellites made it possible to find your location within feet. Finally, we will learn how the great Polynesian navigators sailed across amazingly vast, empty stretches of the Pacific, without any charts or instruments and with unerring precision. Play with astrolabes, sextants and other hands-on navigational materials. In addition, we will examine the effects of political events like the Ottoman conquest and the Black Plague on navigation. Scattered throughout our discussions will be stories of famous shipwrecks.
Course Code
505414