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Sextant

Sextant

A Voyage Guided by the Stars and the Men Who Mapped the World's Oceans

by David Barrie
Hardback
Publication Date: 24/02/2014

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In the tradition of Dava Sobel's 'Longitude' comes sailing expert David Barrie's compelling and dramatic tale of invention and discovery - an eloquent elegy to one of the most important navigational instruments ever created, and the daring mariners who used it to explore, conquer, and map the world.



This is the story of an instrument that changed the world. In prose as crisp as the book's subject, David Barrie tells how and why the sextant was invented; how offshore navigators depended on it for their lives in wild and dangerous seas until the advent of GPS - and the sextant's vital role in the history of exploration. Much of the book is set amidst the waves of the Pacific Ocean as explorers searched for the great southern ocean, charted the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Alaska as well as the Pacific islands. Among the protagonists are Captain James Cook, the great French navigator, La Perouse, who built on Cook's work in the exploring the Pacific during the 1780s, but never made it home, George Vancouver, Matthew Flinders - the first man to circumnavigate Australia, Robert FitzRoy of the Beagle, Joshua Slocum, the redoubtable old 'lunarian' and successful pilot of a small boat across the wild Southern Ocean and Frank Worsley of the Endurance.

Their stories are interwoven with the author's account of his own transatlantic passage aboard Saecwen in 1973, using the very same navigational tools as Captain Cook, and the book is infused with a sense of wonder and dramatic discovery.

A heady mix of adventure, science, mathematics and derring-do, 'Sextant' is a timeless tale of sea-faring and exploration. A love letter to the sea, it is narrative history for star gazers and sailors, for everyone with a love of salty breezes and a sense of adventure. Beautifully produced, 'Sextant' offers storytelling at its very best.
ISBN:
9780007516568
9780007516568
Category:
Maritime history
Format:
Hardback
Publication Date:
24-02-2014
Language:
English
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Pages:
368
Dimensions (mm):
222x141x33mm
Weight:
0.53kg
David Barrie

David Barrie grew up on the south coast of England where he fell in love with sailing and - in particular - the art of navigation.

At the age of 19 David crossed the Atlantic in the 35-foot yacht 'Saecwen' and the following year competed in the 2000-mile Observer Two-Handed Round Britain Race in Shamaal II - a Contessa 26, one of the smallest entries.

In 1981 he sailed his own Contessa 32 from Lymington to the Azores and back, and in 1984 took part as navigator in the China Sea Race from Hong Kong to Manila. In recent years he has cruised in the Hebrides, Norway, the Caribbean and British Columbia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and a member of the Royal Cruising Club.

David studied Experimental Psychology and Philosophy at Oxford University. His working life has been varied: deck hand on a ferry, diplomat, intelligence analyst, arts adminstrator and campaigner. The great great nephew of the playwright J M Barrie, he is married with two daughters and lives in London.

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