Bowditch's American Practical Navigator

"The American Practical Navigator" , written by Nathaniel Bowditch, is an encyclopedia of navigation, a valuable handbook on oceanography and meteorology, and contains useful tables and a maritime glossary. In 1866 the copyright and plates were bought by the Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy, and as a U.S. Government publication, it is now available for free online. It is not only a notable book but is considered one of America's nautical institutions.

History

The most popular navigational text of the late 18th centurywas "The New Practical Navigator" by John Hamilton Moore.
Edmund M. Blunt, a Newburyport, Massachusetts publisher, decided to issue a revised copy of this work for Americannavigators and convinced Nathaniel Bowditch, a locallyfamous mariner and mathematician, to revise and updateit with the help of several others.Blunt's "The New Practical Navigator"was published in 1799, followed by a second edition in 1800.

By 1802, when Blunt was ready to publish a third edition,Nathaniel Bowditch and others had corrected so manyerrors in Hamilton's work that Blunt decided to publish itas the first edition of a new work, "The New American Practical Navigator".The current edition of the"American Practical Navigator" traces its pedigree to that 1802 edition.Edmund M. Blunt continued to published the bookuntil 1833; upon his retirement, his sons, Edmund andGeorge, assumed publication. The elder Blunt died in 1862;his son Edmund followed in 1866. The next year, 1867,George Blunt sold the copyright to the government for$25,000. The government has published Bowditch eversince. George Blunt died in 1878.

Nathaniel Bowditch continued to correct and revise thebook until his death in 1838. Upon his death, the editorial responsibilityfor the "The New American Practical Navigator" passed tohis son, J. Ingersoll Bowditch. Very few significant changes were made under him. Editions from 1837 through 1880 are nearly identical in content. Ingersoll Bowditch continuedediting the "Navigator" until George Blunt sold the copyrightto the government. He outlived all of the principles involvedin publishing and editing the Navigator, dying in 1889.

The U.S. government has published some 52 editionssince acquiring the copyright to the book that has come tobe known simply by its original author’s name, "Bowditch".Since the government began production, the book has beenknown by its year of publishing, instead of by the editionnumber. After the first major revision, a total overhaul of the book's content completed in 1880 under the direction of Commander Phillip H. Cooper, USN, the name was changed to "American Practical Navigator". Much of Bowditch’s original content, including his methods for clearing lunar distance observations, were dropped in 1880 (though a new method for clearing lunars remained in an appendix until the early 20th century). Afternumerous incremental revisions and printings in the period from 1914 to 1944, Bowditch wasextensively revised between 1946 and 1958.

The present volume, while retaining the basic format of the1958 version, reorganizes the subjects, deletes obsolete text, andadds new material to keep pace with the extensive changes innavigation that have taken place in the electronic age.

This 1995 edition of the "American Practical Navigator"incorporates extensive changes in organization, format, andcontent. Recent advances in navigational electronics, communications,positioning, and other technologies havetransformed the way navigation is practised at sea, and it isclear that even more changes are forthcoming. The changes tothis edition of "Bowditch" are intended to ensure that thispublication remains the premier reference work for practicalmarine navigation. Concerted efforts were made to return toNathaniel Bowditch’s original intention "to put down in thebook nothing I can’t teach the crew." To this end, many complexformulas and equations have been eliminated, andemphasis placed on the capabilities and limitations of variousnavigation systems and how to use them, instead of explainingcomplex technical and theoretical details. This edition replacesbut does not cancel former editions, which may be retained andconsulted as to navigation methods not discussed herein.

The former Volume II has been incorporated into the primaryvolume to save space and production cost. For similar reasons, the book is now published on a larger page size. These two changesallow the publisher to present a single, comprehensive navigation sciencereference which explains modern navigational methodswhile respecting traditional ones. The goal of the changes wasto put as much useful information before the navigator aspossible in the most understandable and readable format.

Contents

Part I, Fundamentals, includes an overview of the types and phases of marine navigation and the organizations which support and regulate it.It includes chapters relating to the structure, use and limitationsof nautical charts; chart datums and their importance;and other material of a basic nature.

Part II, Piloting, emphasizes the practical aspects of navigating a vessel in restricted waters.

Part III, Electronic Navigation, covers the primary means of positioning of the modern navigator. Chapters deal with each of the several electronicmethods of navigation, organized by type.

Part IV, Celestial Navigation, contains techniques, examples and problems and a chapter on sight reduction.

Part V, Navigational Mathematics, includes chapters relating to such topics as basic navigational mathematics and computer use in the solution of navigation problems.

Part VI, Navigational Safety, discusses aspects of the new distress and safety communications systems now in place or being implemented in the next severalyears, as well as navigation regulations, emergencynavigation procedures, and distress communications.

Part VII Oceanography, contains chapters on practical oceanography of use to the mariner.

Part VII Marine Meteorology, incorporates weather routing and forecasting methods as well as color plates of the Beaufort Sea States.

ource

Portions of this article originated from the preface of "The American Practical Navigator", a document produced by the government of the United States of America.

ee also

*Buoy
* "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch"
*Coast Pilots
*Day beacon
*Light List
*List of Lights
*Local Notice to Mariners
*Notice to Mariners
*Sailing Directions

References

* "Dictionary of American History" by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.

External links

* [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_American_Practical_Navigator Full text at Wikisource]
* [http://www.irbs.com/bowditch/ Full text (1995 ed.) in pdf files]
* [http://www.nga.mil/portal/site/maritime/?epi_menuItemID=c56aa099e2bff9525b2a7fbd3227a759&epi_menuID=35ad5b8aabcefa1a0fc133443927a759&epi_baseMenuID=e106a3b5e50edce1fec24fd73927a759 Full text (2002 Bicentennial Ed.) in single or multiple PDF files]