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When, at the end of 15th century, Columbus
crossed the Atlantic and Portuguese mariners
sailed round Africa into the Indian Ocean, they not
only opened the way to new continents, but
inaugurated a new science of navigation. Before
that, ships had either kept to narrow seas, or used
regular winds to bring them to known landfalls.
Now that they had to establish their whereabouts in
unfamiliar waters, seamen had recourse to the
instruments of the astronomers, to find their
location from the positions of Sun and stars.
Instruments such as the astronomical astrolabe,
quadrant and Jacob's staff were modified for use
at sea. Though simpler than the original devices,
some mathematical training was needed to handle
them properly. The Spaniards developed a system
of teaching and certifying pilots to navigate their
ships. Books on this new art of compass and
celestial navigation appeared, then were translated,
pirated, copied and improved. Yet navigation
remained a tricky business, and none too easy to
put into practice.

Time measurement key to navigation

Finding the longitude was the most difficult
problem. An observer was obliged to measure how
many degrees east or west of his origin he was.
Alternatively, he had to measure the difference in
time between events in the sky as he observed
them, against the times predicted for those events
for a baseline meridian.
Time, then, was the key. Mechanical clocks,
driven by falling weights, were a great marvel when
they first appeared in northern Italy about 1300. But
although they might be good enough to tell the
hours for cathedrals, or town halls, they were bulky
and not very precise. Clocks driven by springs were
introduced in the late 15th century. As they could
be much more compact and portable, they became
popular with those who could afford them, hung
from the neck as a pendant. But they were even less
accurate than the others.
A ~ 'f' Astrolabes such as

this one made in Toledo in

1068 (above) were
introduced to Europe from
Babylonia by Alexandrian
Greek and, later, Arab
scholars. The a. trolabe was

used in the Middle Ages to

determine the position of
celestial bodies, height of
buildings, latitude, and
time. Astrolabes were used
only briefly in navigation,
from the late 15th century.
In the 16th century the
simpler quadrant (right)
enjoyed widespread use.
Sailors were soon
employing instruments
such as the backstaff
(below, top). By the 18th
century navigators'
instruments included the
octant or Hadley's quadrant
and the sextant (below
right and left).

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