Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation

by Alan Gurney

Overview

"The compass's rocky evolution is charted with an enthusiast's passion…A fascinating adventure." —Bernadette Murphy, Los Angeles Times

This is the rich history of the most important navigational device of all time, the magnetic compass, born of the need for a reliable means of negotiating treacherous sea routes around the globe. Compass chronicles the misadventures of those who attempted to perfect the instrument—so precious to sixteenth-century seamen that, by law, any man found tampering with one had his hand pinned to the mast with a dagger. Part history, part adventure, this book is a compelling tribute to human ingenuity—and the mysteries of the sea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393608830
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/18/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Alan Gurney was a former yacht designer and photographer. His books include Compass, The Race to the White Continent, and Below the Convergence: Voyages Toward Antarctica: 1699–1839.

Table of Contents

	Preface and Acknowledgments	9
	Prologue	13
Chapter 1	Dead Reckoning	19
Chapter 2	Needle and Stone	31
Chapter 3	The Rose of the Winds	41
Chapter 4	Variation and Dip	55
Chapter 5	Edmond Halley, Polymath	69
Chapter 6	To Compass the Globe	77
Chapter 7	Halleyan Lines	87
Chapter 8	Dr. Gowin Knight and His Magnetic Machine	99
Chapter 9	Knight's Compass	109
Chapter 10	The Shocks of Tempestuous Seas	119
Chapter 11	Any Old Iron, Any Old Iron	135
Chapter 12	The Book of Bearings	149
Chapter 13	The Flinders Bar	161
Chapter 14	Soft Iron, Hard Iron	175
Chapter 15	"An Evil So Pregnant with Mischief"	187
Chapter 16	Deviation, the Hydra-Headed Monster	199
Chapter 17	The "Inextricable Entangled Web"	211
Chapter 18	Gray's Binnacle	225
Chapter 19	Thomson's Compass and Binnacle	235
Chapter 20	The Selling of a Compass	247
Chapter 21	A Question of Liquidity	261
	Epilogue: From Needle to Spinning Top	273
Appendix	Deviation	277
	Notes	281
	Bibliography	297
	Index	307

Editorial Reviews

British writer, photographer and yacht designer Gurney (The Race to the White Continent) sets his sights on the events leading to the invention Victor Hugo called "the soul of the ship." Centuries ago, a sailor's directional aids were winds and vision. Until the compass was developed in the 12th century, maps and charts could not be used with accuracy, but "the path from lodestone to global positioning systems has been a tortuous one... marked by wrecks and sailors' bones." Gurney begins with the Scilly Islands catastrophe of 1707, when "shoddy compasses" led to the death of 2,000 men in "the worst shipwreck disaster ever suffered by the Royal Navy." Early discoveries that lodestone could magnetize a needle were followed by a parade of devices and experiments. With the circumnavigation of the globe in 1522, "the whole world was magically transformed into an oyster for traders... explorers, and mariners: an oyster ready and waiting to be opened, not with a sword, but by a compass needle." In 1901, the magnetic compass was "unseated from its throne" by the gyrocompass, yet Gurney concludes by noting that despite 20th-century technological upgrades, the magnetic compass remains "a fail-safe measure." An appendix itemizes deviations of the compass needle from the magnetic north; the 20 illustrations include maps, charts, compass cards and woodcuts. Bibliographic notes filling 24 pages indicate Gurney's exhaustive research for this engaging foray into vistas and voyages of the past. (June 28) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

"[Gurney] tells—and clearly loves—marvelous stories of sailing and the sea. He has dug into diaries, logs, and historic accounts of catastrophic storms and battles, of the mortal perils of rocks and reefs. His sagas relate to the necessities and developments of navigation, but many are told almost cinematically."

Baltimore Sun - Michael Pakenham

"Fast-paced and informative, Compass is a worthy investment."

Virginian-Pilot - Raymond Leach

"Mr. Gurney does not forget the adventure, reward, and yes, danger that compelled man to explore in the first place."

Wall Street Journal - Brendan Miniter

"A colorful line of scientists, engineers and sailors [are] described by Gurney with a novelist’s eye for detail."

American Scientist