Exploration & Places
Lewis and Clark: Mapping a Continent One Observation at a Time
How compass traverses, celestial observations, Indigenous geographic knowledge, and disciplined field notes shaped the maps of the Corps of Discovery.
From the Index
Tag: Celestial Navigation
Reports, histories, and working notes filed under this subject.
Exploration & Places
Walking a Nation: Ino Tadataka and the Survey of Japan
How a retired merchant, local collaborators, astronomy, traverses, and repeated journeys produced Japan’s celebrated Ino maps.
Exploration & Places
Finding the Moon: Reference Frames, Optical Sights, and Apollo Navigation
How inertial platforms, optical observations, radio tracking, maps, and reference frames guided Apollo between Earth and Moon.
Exploration & Places
Surveying Across the Seas, Part 3: Sextants, Almanacs, and the Surveyed Ocean
How sextants, chronometers, astronomical tables, and hydrographic surveys made ocean navigation repeatable.
Exploration & Places
Surveying Across the Seas, Part 1: Before Longitude
How latitude, dead reckoning, soundings, and disciplined observation guided sailors before dependable longitude.