History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

When your GPS dies
"Are the stars out tonight...?"
The Truth
Straightforward
Small book packed with information

Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen
Mary Blewitt
Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

ASIN: 0070059284

Book Description

There is deep mystery and profound satisfaction in finding your position on earth by reference to the sun, moon, and stars--not to mention profound relief when the GPS receiver stops working in mid-passage. That is why knowledge of celestial navigation is still a rite of initiation, and its practice still a favorite pastime among serious cruisers.

That this edition of Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen should appear 44 years after the first British edition and 27 years after its first publication in the U.S. is eloquent testimony to the author's clear, concise explanation of a difficult skill. Through those years, Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen has been the best-known, best-loved primer on the subject throughout the English-speaking world. It successfully teaches sailors who have been demoralized by bigger books. It remains "the famous little book" on celestial navigation.

Among other changes, this edition substitutes the Nautical Almanac for the Air Almanac, discusses the "short" tables based on H.O. 211, expands the discussion in a few areas, fine-tunes it in others, and shows how to advance a line of position for a running fix from sun sights. The only mathematics involved are straightforward addition and subtraction.

Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen has spawned many imitators over the years, but it's still the best--with this new edition more than ever.

Customer Reviews:

When your GPS dies.......2007-10-08

This is a neat little book to read if you're serious about finding your position without the benefit of GPS. It's well written and the computations required are basically only addition and subtraction. You can practice using a GPS instrument to check your sights. (What you will find is that you need a lot of practice to get even close!)

"Are the stars out tonight...?".......2006-07-30

Celestial navigation, like knots and splices and reading maritime charts and tide tables, is one of the essential sailing skills. Whether you are a daysailer, weekender, blue water cruiser or lone circumnavigator, there WILL come a time when the GPS quits, the Loran won't work, and you're going to say, "Where the &$@!* am I?". If you haven't learned celestial nav at that point you had better be a real quick study or have hired a good estate planning lawyer.

But assuming that Clarence Darrow Dershowitz Kunstler Belli Nizer, Esq. isn't in your crew, Mary Blewitt's book is a good thing to have. Brief, concise, and Ptolemaically simple to understand, Blewitt takes the hocus-pocus out of asking the heavens for directions. The difficulty with learning celestial nav isn't so much the math (as most people want to believe) as it is that modern man is SO far out of touch with the natural world that looking at the night sky is like looking at---something dark and mysterious. However, add a few very basic, easy-to-grasp concepts to your skill set and your Sunfish will suddenly become the Santa Maria.

Knowing celestial navigation will help you to sail anywhere and, even better, to know where you are when you get there. To that end, this book is an invaluable learning tool.

The Truth.......2005-10-25

Before crossing the Atlantic in 1978 on my 22' sailboat, I read many books on celestial navigation and became convinced that it was an inpenetrable subject and then, on reflection, I realized that that could not be so as so many navigators had had less geometry etc than me. I figured the authors did not really know what they were talking about. And then I came across Prof. Blewett at the Boston Museum of Science, teaching on 10 Wednesday evenings. After the first lecture, on the noon sight, she said, if you your boat is going faster than 20 kts then you don't have to come back for more. That is all you need. She was absolutely right. But I did continue -- I took the course so I could do the fun-and-games of star sights too. I can now teach her course in 45 minutes.

Straightforward.......2001-06-08

This book is exactly what I expected it to be and exactly as advertised. Its short length makes it useful for quick reference. It is clearly written.

Small book packed with information.......2000-03-27

I was concerned that such a small book (just over 100 pages) could contain enough information about celestial navigation to make my sextant useful. I shouldn't have been. The book is bypasses hype, lore and commentary and deals strickly with the topic at hand. It can be tough going but the book is written clearly enough so as not to be confusing on such the subject.

Average customer rating:

Interesting Points of View
A Fascinating Character Portrait
raw stuff
well written... bad choice of title... nothing remotely about Celestial Navigation.
Lack of Communication Equals Tragedy

Celestial Navigation
Anne Tyler
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0449911802
Release Date: 1996-08-27

Book Description

"Tyler is steadily raising a body of fiction of major dimensions."

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Thirty-eight-year-old Jeremy Pauling has never left home. He lives on the top floor of a Baltimore row house where he creates collages of little people snipped from wrapping paper. His elderly mother putters in the rooms below, until her death. And it is then that Jeremy is forced to take in Mary Tell and her child as boarders. Mary is unaware of how much courage it takes Jaremy to look her in the eye. For Jeremy, like one of his paper creations, is fragile and easily torn--especially when he's falling in love....

From the Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting Points of View.......2007-04-05

A merry-go-round of viewpoints help tell this story, in which an artist loses his mother. We hear about the artist's world from the words of the women around him.

A Fascinating Character Portrait.......2007-03-18

"Celestial Navigation" is one of Anne Tyler's most difficult novels in terms of understanding the characters. It is not difficult to read, but rather extremely well-written and thought-out like all her books. What is most interesting to me about the book is the points of view Tyler chooses to use. The novel is the story of Jeremy Pauling, an artist who is practically unable to leave his boarding house that was left to him by a mother who felt she had to do something to make sure he would be provided for when she is gone. Tyler divides the novel into ten sections, four of which are dispersed through the novel and told in third person about Jeremy. The remaining sections are written in first person and told by Jeremy's sister, Amanda, and three of the female boarders, one of whom, Mary, becomes Jeremy's wife, and the other two women become involved with him to some extent. It interests me that Jeremy is the only main male character and that he does not get his own voice in the book. I believe it would have been difficult to write anything from Jeremy's point of view because I do not think Jeremy would be himself clear-headed enough to describe what is going on for the reader--consequently, the narrator, or Tyler, the author, like the other women in the book, has to take care of doing things for him. The other female characters are all in the role of caretakers to him as well. The novel opens with the death of his mother and his sister Amanda coming to take care of the funeral, which he is incapable of doing. Later, the boarders basically care for him until he marries Mary, seeing she is in dire straits and thinking he can take care of her, although she ends up being more capable than she realizes and takes care of him and a batch of children. When Mary leaves him, Olivia and then Miss Vinton become his caretakers.

Each of the characters is well-drawn out and their motivations understandable. Tyler has perfectly chosen whose point of view to tell the story from in each section. Despite Jeremy's sections being in third person, I think Tyler's strongest writing is these third-person descriptions of Jeremy as an artist--how his mind concentrates on cutting little pieces of paper and putting them together, how he is distracted by his work, his focus on his art making him oblivious to the world around him so that he doesn't even notice right away when his wife and children have left him, and rather than react, he returns to his work. The portrait of Jeremy is both sad and a bit frightening, yet so perfectly drawn and realistic. He can spend hours just staring at his work, then ten minutes working with energy, then be exhausted--it is very believable that this is the torment of his artistic abilities, that he does not feel whole when he is not creating his art, yet it takes over his life, not letting him interact with other human beings in a meaningful way.

The book has its comical moments but it is also quite heavy and depressing in a touching way. I believe Jeremy is the most difficult character Anne Tyler has captured in her works, most difficult for the reader to read about, yet completely fascinating. Celestial Navigation was Tyler's fifth novel, and it was the beginning of the truly great books of her career that have followed. I would not recommend this as the first Tyler novel to read, but any Anne Tyler fan will love it.

- Tyler R. Tichelaar, author of "Iron Pioneers" and "The Queen City", available on Amazon

raw stuff.......2006-07-27

Celestial Navigation is one of Anne Tyler's best. Right after I finished it, I couldn't wait to see what other Amazon readers thought of this novel, especially the ending. (NO, NO THERE MUST BE MORE!) was my favorite of the reviewer comments. I won't elaborate any more on that, but Tyler pulls no strings in this one. Raw reality when it comes to matters of the heart. Highly recommended!

well written... bad choice of title... nothing remotely about Celestial Navigation........2006-07-27

Well written story... read it because I felt obligated after mistakenly buying it because I thought it was about Celestial Navigation... you know... using a sextant to determine your position at sea. HA HA... WRONG... nothing about Celestial Navigation on any page in this book! Wonder how many others have made this mistake... probably the ones selling their used copy for 26 cents. (hmmmm, maybe... if I'm ever that hard up for 26 cents) A better title would be: "Portrait of the (wimpy, agoraphobic) Artist"

Lack of Communication Equals Tragedy.......2005-12-27

You know what it is? I really adored this book and felt such empathy for all the characters (save the fuss-budget narrating sister in the first chapter)and was really shocked, horrifed and heart-broken by the ending.

SPOILER......

What the hell was that?!? The children just float away and Jeremy ends up old and alone, agoraphobic and cared for by an old maid? Where were his children? Wouldn't he have still seen them? Why did Mary marry someone as limited as he (and have all those children with him) if she was just going to leave him?

She never should have left him home when she went to the hospital and had the baby, but an aknowledgement and an apology would have changed everything. Instead, an entire marriage (not to mention a life-Jeremy's) was ruined by assumption and miscommunication.
Jeremy didn't handle things well, but she knew who he was when she married him. Nonetheless, he ws the one who let them all go in the final act, and I suppose for that he deserved that sad,awful ending, but still, it broke my heart.

One Hundred Problems in Celestial Navigation, Second Edition

Average customer rating:

A superb manual for safely practicing and honing one's navigational skills

One Hundred Problems in Celestial Navigation, Second Edition
Leonard Gray
Manufacturer: Paradise Cay Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0939837331

Book Description

Traditional navigation with a sextant, an almanac, and a book of tables is still thriving, even with the availability of accurate, cheap GPS receivers. Batteries sometimes go dead, and electronic devices fail, especially in salt air. Also, it can be satisfying, and fun, to work out a position and plot it, all on your own - but getting good at it requires some practice.

100 Problems is a self-contained book of realistic celestial navigation problems, including excerpts of all the necessary Nautical Almanac pages and sight-reduction table, with answers and explanations. All of the regularly encountered navigation situations are covered, as well as those that are used only occasionally and whose routines may have been forgotten, such as the backsight, shooting an unknown body, finding Venus in daylight and storm avoidance. Procedures for all the needed methods are outlined in an appendix, for review and for reference, and a sight-reduction form is included. It may be photocopied, for non-commercial use.

In the problems, emphasis is on actual conditions at sea, so sometimes sights are poor or planned-for bodies are not visible. Errors are made - and an occasional blunder - as in real life.

Customer Reviews:

A superb manual for safely practicing and honing one's navigational skills.......2005-11-07

Even in a world with accurate and cheap GPS receivers, traditional navigation with a sextant, an almanac, and a book of tables is still an important skill - sometimes batteries go dead or electronic devices fail, especially in salt air! Written by experienced navigator Leonard Gray, 100 Problems In Celestial Navigation: Self Contained - With Answers is a compendium of realistic navigation problems, including excerpts of all required Nautical Almanac pages and sight-reduction tables, complete with answers and explanations. These problems cover all regularly encountered navigation situations, as well as those that are only occasionally used and often forgotten, such as backsight, shooting and unknown body, finding Venus in daylight, and storm avoidance. A superb manual for safely practicing and honing one's navigational skills.

The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator : Includes 2003-2007 Nautical Almanac

Average customer rating:

great for basic celestial navigation
Everything you need in a compact, easy-to-use handbook
Good Resource for Intermediate to Advanced Navigator
Complete and compact and very terse
The 1999 -2003 edition is now out of date

The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator : Includes 2003-2007 Nautical Almanac
George C. Bennett
Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

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ASIN: 0071396578

Book Description

The perfect backup navigation system for the serious cruiser in a GPS era, this all-in-one tool kit supplies everything a celestial navigator needs except the sextant. The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator replaces $300 worth of guides and almanacs traditionally required by celestial navigators and includes a star finder; a five-year (20032007) nautical almanac for determining precise star, sun, moon, or planet locations at the time of sighting; and sight reduction tables for crunching the numbers and producing the fix. Designed with the novice or rusty celestial navigator in mind, it even includes a celestial navigation primer.

Customer Reviews:

great for basic celestial navigation.......2007-10-03

I used this as a beginner, and although I found the explanations at times confusing, working through the practice problems and making my own sights made it clear what to do. A great resource to have, though not one to learn basic theory from. But then again, this is not the purpose of this publication, either.

Everything you need in a compact, easy-to-use handbook.......2007-07-20

This excellent "manual" contains everything needed to perform celestial navigation at sea, or to practice the skills at home. The manual contains an instructional section at the beginning describing the process, followed by complete tables and nautical almanac for 2003-2007, providing everything needed to plot one's position with nothing more than a pencil, paper, and of course the sextant.

I took this book on my single-handed cruise to the Bahamas in 2006, as a back-up to my GPS, and also for practice and the fun and challenge of navigating by the stars. While my GPS never failed me in open water sailing, I still plotted my position by sun and stars several times on the trip, and was very greatful to have everything I needed in one compact book, given how extremely precious space on a small sailboat can be.

One consideration is that the instructions at the beginning will not give nearly as in-depth a lesson into the theory and complexities of celestial navigation as other purely instructional books will give. The book will, however, provide complete instruction for a rusty mind that hasn't performed a sight reduction in a long time, or someone who otherwise has some grasp on the concept. I personally learned celestial navigation simply from a few online instructional sites that give general overviews along with the instructions in this book. I rate the book at 5 stars because I think the "instructional" section is the perfect length for a book of this purpose.

The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator is an excellent "everything but the sextant" handbook to use for recreational or back-up celestial navigation in today's world.

Good Resource for Intermediate to Advanced Navigator.......2006-08-26

Excellent resource if you wish to manually navigate or if you find yourself in a situation which precludes using GPS.

Complete and compact and very terse.......2006-08-10

I bought this because it combines the functions of nautical almanac and sight reduction tables in one slender volume. It provides five years of star data, sample worksheets and lots of worked out examples. So it's a lot easier than hauling around Nautical Almanacs and 3-volume sight reduction tables.

The tables trade compactness for accuracy. Sights and positions are taken to the nearest minute of latitude or longitude, rather than 10ths of minutes in the standard celestial navigation tables. I don't mind the loss of accuracy; my sights are pretty loose to begin with, and it's hard to imagine an emergency short of nuclear war where I'd actually have to depend on celestial navigation. I'm learning it only because I want to do a Transpac race and the rules require that four lines of position be determined during the race.

Also, to keep the tables small, the sight reduction methodology is non-standard and requires a few extra steps compared to the normal "Bowditch-approved" method. The geometry behind them is completely opaque, so you have to take them on faith unless you are a true expert in celestial navigation techniques. But, once you get the hang of it, it's a straightforward sequence of arithmetic sums.

The author includes a couple of methods for determining azimuth, one by table lookup and one by the use of "Weir diagrams." The latter look interesting but the explanation in the book is completely incomprehensible and I couldn't find another reference that even mentioned them.

The 1999 -2003 edition is now out of date.......2006-07-12

The information in the 1999 edition is now out of date. Buy a new one!

Celestial Navigation in a Nutshell (Seafarer Books)

Average customer rating:

Why celestial navigation?
The Beginners Delight
Examples clearly explained
Basic celestial navigation
Easy to understand, easy to use!

Celestial Navigation in a Nutshell (Seafarer Books)
Hewitt Schlereth
Manufacturer: Sheridan House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1574090585

Book Description

In this easy-to-use guide, the author explains clearly and consisely how to navigate andy stretch of sea using only a hand-held sextant, a watch, a plotting sheet and a copy of the Nautical Almanac.

Customer Reviews:

Why celestial navigation?.......2007-09-04

With modern GPS navigation now omnipresent, why would anyone want to use celestial navigation? Because it's fun, it teaches some valuable lessons about how celestial bodies can show where you are on the earth's surface, and it could be a useful backup in case of loss of GPS due to dead batteries or loss of satellites. This book teaches the subject in easy to understand language, and with just the right amount of humor. All you need is a sextant (which can be obtained, used, for less than $100) and a nuatical almanac. Since this book was published some free computer programs have become available wthat will let you enter the time and the sextant reading and produce an LOP (line of position) eliminating the need for the almanac. You can practice taking sun shots at home on land, even if you can't see the horizon. In a few hours you can become pretty good at it.

The Beginners Delight.......2006-08-26

Celestial Navigation in a Nutshell is an excellent starter for just about anyone wanting or needing to navigate using celestial references. It is exactly what you need prior to using The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator : Includes 2003-2007 Nautical Almanac. It is logically laid out and provides practical exercises which will facilitate developing basic skills. Highly recommend.

Examples clearly explained.......2003-08-25

Hewitt Schlereth wrote this book to explain the use of the HO249 tables to fix one's position on the earth using the known positions of the sun, moon, planets, and distant stars. I would also recommend reading this book if you intend to use another method of sight reduction, such as George G. Bennett's "The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator" (ISBN: 0071396578). Schlereth gives a good introduction to the celestial bodies used for navigation and how to use them.

Schlereth's examples show the relevant tables, highlighting the values used. He makes it clear how to enter the tables correctly every time, and gives a few tips on how to avoid transcription errors when "taking out" the numbers you need.

He begins the book with a little trigonometric fiction -- that we are interested in the angles between the sun, the "position" of the sun on the surface of the earth, and the observer. Of course, this is a bit of nonsense, as another reviewer, Nathaniel Meyers, has pointed out. Schlereth corrects himself in a later chapter, and I think he could have better begun with the story of how the famous Greek philosopher calculated the circumference of the earth thousands of years ago.

The eager student should work through the examples thouroughly. Be on the lookout for the error in transcribing one of the sights in the example of the approach to San Salvador -- the first fully-plotted example.

This book is a good introduction to celestial navigation -- a useful place to start before going on to more advanced sources of information.

Basic celestial navigation.......2002-10-16

I've been sailing the coast of Portugal for a few years now, and have always been curious about celestial navigation. I dicided to buy this book because all experienced sailors i've met always talk about this kind of navigation. I read this book and got the hole picture. It's really very well written for biginners. If you are thinking about starting CN this is the right book for you.

Easy to understand, easy to use!.......2002-08-31

I'm a student pilot (hopefully for not much longer!) and navigation is very interesting to me, not to talk of very important as well. I've heard of celestial navigation as being the ultimate form of navigation and I was interested in finding out more about it by reading various books but each time I did, I had to give up because I did not have the necessary PhD in astrophysics to understand what the author was trying to say.

So, it was with a little trepidation that I approached reading this book by Schlereth and to my pleasant surprise, celestial navigation makes sense! His use of simplified theory may not be to some people's taste but at the end of the day, I'm not studying for an exam, I'm trying to understand what celestial navigation is and how to use it. This book teaches you how exactly to use it and that's all that matters to any good author and should to any good reader. I can now go outdoors with a sextant and the necessary tables and find out where on earth I am, correct theory or no!

Average customer rating:

Compact and dense

Celestial Navigation Made Easy: Using a Pocket Calculator
Francois Meyrier
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator

The Sextant Handbook

Celestial Navigation in a Nutshell (Seafarer Books)

One Hundred Problems in Celestial Navigation, Second Edition

Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen

ASIN: 1592280269

Book Description

A modern, easy approach to the ancient science of navigating by the stars.

Customer Reviews:

Compact and dense.......2005-07-21

A small book full of very useful information. I don't think this is the ideal book for beginners since the information is presented in a very dense manner. It's an excellent and detailed summary to the celestial navigation with very good pictures. The templates provided are well made, but it's impossible to copy them without destroying the book.

Taking the Stars: Celestial Navigation from Argonauts to Astronauts

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A Must For Sextant Freaks
Beautifully put together book about navigation
Splendid, stunning and highly informative

Taking the Stars: Celestial Navigation from Argonauts to Astronauts
Peter Ifland
Manufacturer: Krieger Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1575240955

Book Description

An early astrolabe, its name derived from Greek words for "star" (astron) and "to take" (lambanein), was an instrument with which a navigator "took the stars" to determine a vessel's position in the great expanse of the sea. From the simple wooden kamál developed by ancient Arab mariners to the modern navigator's electronic global positioning system, Taking the Stars: Celestial Navigation from Argonauts to Astronauts$I traces the long path of ingenious inventions developed for celestial navigation. Renowned collector Peter Ifland applies his talent for clear, engaging prose to describe the incremental improvements, world-changing advances, and well-intentioned failures that have marked the evolution of celestial navigation instruments for over 1,000 years. Two panoramas converge in these lavishly illustrated pages. One is a parade of wonderful--and often, wonderfully clever--devices for celestial navigation: among others, the kamál, the cross-staff and back-staff, the astrolabe, and the marvelous variations on the divided celestial circle--the half-circle, quadrant, quintant, sextant, octant, and their kin. The other panorama is a carefully delineated roll-call of the great craftsmen and inventors of celestial navigation instruments--the likes of Thomas Godfrey, Captain John Davis, John Dollond, Edward Nairne, John Hadley, and Jesse Ramsden.

Customer Reviews:

A Must For Sextant Freaks.......2005-07-28

There are a few books on instruments used for nautical astronomy that you must have if you are interested in this field: Mörzer Bruijns "The Cross Staff", Stimson " The Mariner`s Astrolabe", Albuquerque "Instruments of Navigation" and Cotter "A History of the Navigator`s Sextant". This last book - although full of facts - is sadly lacking in good illustrations. "Taking the Stars" has both: a thorough and detailed history of instruments used for making astronomical observations right up to the latest developments and beautiful illustrations that show in detail what the text is talking about. It is rather rare that one finds such a well informed text in a book which can easily pass as a "coffee table book". My first copy of this book was destroyed by water; I ordered a new copy the next day.

Beautifully put together book about navigation.......2003-10-08

Today the very idea of using a sextant seems crazy when you can just switch on your GPS and be told where on the planet you are. This book takes you through some of the scientific instruments used to find your position on the earth. The author has taken the time not only to display excellent photos of the instruments but also describes their use. If you have an interest in either astronomy, celestial navigation or even scientific instruments I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Splendid, stunning and highly informative.......1999-07-30

I have spent days savoring this delicious work. Ifland has set a new standard against which all subsequent instrument books must be judged. The illustrations are magnificent; the text is lucid and I particularly like the fact that, in many cases, instructions are given for actual use of the instrument being discussed. Thank you, Peter Ifland!

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Get your bearings on CelNav

Celestial Navigation
Tom Cunliffe
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1898660751

Book Description

Celestial navigation is the one of the oldest of the mariner's arts - and one of the most awe-inspiring. To guide a small boat across the trackless oceans using only a simple measuring device - the sextant - and the knowledge of the sun, moon and stars is a skill that borders on the magical.

In these pages Tom Cuncliffe shows how to master the art in easy stages. Starting from a sound foundation of basic concepts and definitions, he moves on to the hardware: the sextant and how to use it. within a few pages he has you down on the beach, shooting the sun. From there it is a short step to working out your latitude from a noon sight, and learning how to plot a position from observation of the sun, planets, moon or stars - wherever you may be on the world's oceans.

"He writes with the authority of a man who knows that his methods work in the most testing of all examination rooms, a small boat sailing on the open ocean."
âBill Anderson, Formerly Rya Training manager

Customer Reviews:

Get your bearings on CelNav.......2006-03-24

Celestial navigation, practiced by seamen for thousands of years, seems to be a daunting topic encompassing spherical trigonometry and lots of tables to look up values.

Tom Cunliffe managed to get everything you need to know to use celestial navigation to get across an ocean or to do some sun or star shots for fun into a small volume. This is without question the best book to learn the basics how to use a sextant, calculate your position from the sun, multiple stars, even the moon.

You will need a Nautical Almanach and Site Reduction Tables Pub. 249 but no other books to get started. Also get some Universal Plotting Sheets and you are ready.

The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator, 2007-2011 Edition

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The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator, 2007-2011 Edition
George C. Bennett
Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

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ASIN: 0071485694

Book Description

Your All-in-One Navigation Tool Kit

Celestial navigation remains an essential skill for every mariner who ventures out of sight of land. In this era of electronic navigation, it is the perfect backup system, enabling you to determine your position when the GPS malfunctions or your boat loses electrical power.

Here in one volume is every bit of information you need to understand the process, take sights, and find your location anywhere in the world. Compiled for beginning and experienced celestial navigators alike, and elegantly designed on the assumption that 1-mile precision is perfectly adequate for backup navigation, this handy volume replaces $300 worth and thousands of pages of guides, tables, and almanacs.

The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator includes:

A clear, concise primer/refresher that explains the entire process
A five-year nautical almanac (2007–2011) for determining precise star, sun, moon, and planet locations at the time of sighting
A star finder
Sight reduction tables for crunching the numbers and producing a fix anywhere in the world

"The only complete self-contained work available. When your electronic navigation fails, 'steering by the stars' will guide you safely to your destination."—Sydney Afloat (Australia)

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