| 词源 |
Bowditch. A name for the navigation handbook American Practical Navigator, prepared by American navigator, astrono- mer, and mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch (1773–1838) in 1802 and published in a series of editions ever since. Nathaniel Bowditch left school in Salem, Massachussetts, at age 10 and went to sea, where he studied navigation, correcting some 8,000 errors in the leading guide of his time. So respected was Bowditch and his work on navigation that ships of all nations flew their flags at half-mast when he died. |