|
|
Article: Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- September 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation. By Alan Gurney. (New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004. Pp. 307. $22.95.)
"For close to a thousand years the magnetic compass needle ... was the seaman's guide across the seas and oceans that make up two-thirds of our planet [and] the sole instrument on which sailors placed their faith and their lives" (295). A yacht designer and author of a previous volume on Antarctic exploration, the author found his motive for writing his new book in his "total lack of appreciation and understanding of all the developments which, over the centuries, have brought the magnetic compass to its present state of perfection" ...