A History of Marine Navigation

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1973. First edition. First Impression [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/good. xv, 280 p. illus. 25 cm. Footnotes. Illustrations. Diagrams. Bibliography. Index. DJ has wear, soiling, edge tears and chips. Previous owner's label on fep. Minor page soiling noted. Commander W. E. May was a leading authority on the history and use of the compass. He was a founder member of the Royal Institute of Navigation and one of its first Fellows. He joined the Royal Navy in 1912 and was second in command of one of the gun turrets of HMS Temeraire at the battle of Jutland. In 1923 he qualified as a navigating officer. During the latter part of World War II he was responsible for all repairs to gyro compasses throughout the Royal Navy. In 1951 Commander May was appointed Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, as post he held until his retirement in 1968. The history of navigation is the history of seamanship, the art of directing vessels upon the open sea through the establishment of its position and course by means of traditional practice, geometry, astronomy, or special instruments. The first TRANSIT satellite was placed in polar orbit in 1960. The system, consisting of 7 satellites, was made operational in 1962. A navigator using readings from three satellites could expect accuracy of about 80 feet. Satellites of the similar Russian GLONASS system began to be put into orbit in 1982, and the system is expected to have a complete 24-satellite constellation in place by 2010. The European Space Agency expects to have its Galileo with 30 satellites in place by 2011/12 as well.