I just took one of Franks classes and it was awesome!!
Frank taught an incredible class on celestial navigation that brought me from novice to some solid understanding of sextants, their history and most importantly their use as a aid to seeing the sea...and knowing where you are on this planet!
Hands on, wealth of knowledge, great resources ... he really covered a lot of ground! There was a lot of math but unlike in my youth, I was on the edge of my seat to soak up knowledge!! Frank made it relatable and real. The sextant which is such an iconic tool of the sea, was demystified. By the end of class i felt comfortable with it. I had mastered how it worked, how to read it and how to adjust it to insure its accuracy.
I came away with all of the cheat sheets and understandings of equations and concepts that breathe the life into what you capture through your sextant sightings.
I would highly recommend Frank and believe Mystic Seaport with its planetarium, an ideal setting for my class with him discovering this timeless tool of the sea.
Frank did a great job keeping the class interesting with visual aids, both on screen and out on the Seaport grounds.
All in all i would highly recommend this class to any and all folks interested in learning about navigation and sextants. Informative and digestible, but most of all useful to the point where i am comfortable with the instrument and have the formulas needed to continuing to set my sights on the horizon!!
I look forward to more classes to learn more from Frank and strengthen my understandings of celestial navigation!
Thank you!!!
John
Chasing Miaplacidus
Where did this name for β Carinae (or β Argus) originate? An earlier spelling was "Maia Placidus" but that's not significant. Most sources, including Wikipedia and others, follow Allen's "Star Names" (c.1899) which attributes it to Elijah Burritt's popular 19th century "Geography of the Heavens". Allen also mentioned an entirely speculative etymology published by one W.H. Higgins in 1882 (the "placidus" part is clearly Latin; Higgins suggested "maia" might be from Arabic for "water" but that was just guesswork --the sort of thing all too common in Allen's "Star Names"). The name "Maia Placidus" appears in Burritt's "Geography of the Heavens" in a peculiar large chart in his atlas, which was also available as a large linen wall chart. It's his so-called "planisphere" which is a Mercator chart of a large portion of the celestial sphere. It's an oddity in Burritt since it's drawn in a different style from the main atlas and includes different choices for some modern constellations. And at the very bottom, there's "Maia Placidus" which is also mentioned briefly in the text.
Why this strange "planisphere" chart? How does "Maia Placidus" appear out of thin air?? The simple answer appears to be that Burritt stole it (*). I discovered a couple of months ago (August, 2022) that Burritt's planisphere chart seems to be a direct copy (with some high latitudes wisely trimmed off) of a nearly identical Mercator projection of the sky in a nautical astronomy/celestial navigation work, "The Young Navigator's Guide...", published in Britain by Thomas Kerigan in 1821. Kerigan's chart includes constellation boundaries identical to Burritt's as well as the (otherwise inexplicable in Burritt's copy) path of a comet from 1819, and it also includes "Maia Placidus". Kerigan even works some computations using that star in the main text of his book.
We still have no explanation for the name "Miaplacidus". There's little doubt it's a modern coinage. Its origin is pushed back to 1821 at least, in Kerigan's navigation textbook. And now maybe the mystery of Burritt's peculiar "planisphere" chart may be solved. Burritt stole/borrowed the primary constellation artwork in his "Geography of the Heavens" from Jameson. He stole/borrowed his planisphere chart from Kerigan. This intellectual property "violation" was quite normal in the USA in this period. Nathaniel Bowditch mostly copied his "New American Practical Navigator" from British sources. Charles Dickens a decade later was infamously astounded to discover he was a pop superstar in the US despite never having made a dime off any of his books here.
* Alternative theory: both Kerigan and Burritt may have copied their "planisphere" Mercator charts from a third source, which I haven't yet seen. There's a Mercator planisphere by W. Croswell from 1810, which is broadly similar, but nothing like the near-perfect match between Kerigan and Burritt.
Frank Reed
Clockwork Mapping / ReedNavigation.com
Conanicut Island USA
Comments:
John Workman wrote: 20👍
Lucinda Fleeson wrote: 26👍
"Celestial Navigation in the Age of Sail" was exactly what I was looking for to familiarize myself with historical marine navigation. Frank is an engaging instructor who weaved the story of a 19th century whaling voyage into hands-on practical calculations. He started by unveiling an incomprehensible historical document filled with numbers and promised that by the end of the course we could decode the figures. He's developed a step-by-step teaching method that is a marvel to watch and experience.
I must admit I dreaded two, back-to-back, 5-hour days, but the time sailed by. (Sorry can't resist.) Thank you.
He also included some 17th century data that I needed. I'm neither a mathematician nor a sailer, but a journalist and author.
I must admit I dreaded two, back-to-back, 5-hour days, but the time sailed by. (Sorry can't resist.) Thank you.
He also included some 17th century data that I needed. I'm neither a mathematician nor a sailer, but a journalist and author.
Samuel S Lyness wrote: 8👍
Frank, a wonderful course in Lunars. I learned a lot. I admire your teaching skills and your astounding fund of knowledge. I would wish to emulate your style of instruction. Best regards, hope to sign up for your course in Cel. Nav. in Age of Sailing.
Sam Lyness
Sam Lyness
