book review The History of Navigation by Dag Pike

[tlevine]

 

 

The History of Navigation written by Dag Pike traces the history of navigation from pre-history to the present.   Mr. Pike is a lifelong mariner, having first gone to sea at age 16, has written many books and is a contributor to various marine magazines.   Instead of dividing his chapters by historical time frames, he divides them by technique, starting with line of sight navigation and moving on through direction, speed, position, etc.  He finishes with a discussion of the human element in navigation. 

 

Although there is no new information presented, this is a well-written, easy-to-read summary of naval navigation throughout the ages.  There are many charts and photographs reproduced throughout the book but sources are only cited for a few of them.  In the same way, none of the information is referenced, making it difficult for the reader to obtain further information without additional research. 

 

The book was published in 2018 by Pen & Sword Maritime.  It is available in both hardbound and digital editions at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk.

 

[druxey]

Thank you for bringing this book to our attention, Toni. Season's greetings!

[Snow]

Thanks mate great book and site