ReMaking History, Volume 1

Chapter 7 Levi ben Gershon and the Jacob’s Staff 1325 CE

There are two different methods for finding one’s way at sea. One way is to hug coastlines, watching for familiar landmarks like mountains or islands or towns and then steering the ship toward them. This method works pretty well as long as you have familiar landmarks and a map that shows them.

But what do you do when you are far out on the open ocean with only stars and the sun for guides? That’s the time when you employ celestial navigation, the technique of using the positions of stars, the moon, and the sun in the sky to find your current position. One of the earliest instruments ...