COMPASS by Alan Gurney ( 9780393327137 ) - Books & Audio Books at Pickabook.co.uk

Item Details

Title:

COMPASS
A STORY OF EXPLORATION AND INNOVATION

By:

Alan Gurney

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£21.00

Our price:

£17.85

Discount:

15% off

You save:

£3.15

ISBN 10:

0393327132

ISBN 13:

9780393327137

Availability:

Usually dispatched within 1-3 weeks.

Delivery rates

Stock:

Currently 0 available

Publisher:

WW NORTON & CO

Pub. date:

12 August, 2005

Pages:

320

Description:

"The compass' rocky evolution is charted with an enthusiast's passion....A fascinating adventure."-Bernadette Murphy, Los Angeles Times

Synopsis:

Compass chronicles the misadventures of those who attempted to perfect the magnetic compass-so precious to sixteenth-century seamen that, by law, any man found tampering with it had his hand pinned to the mast with a dagger. From the time man first took to the seas until only one thousand years ago, sight and winds were the sailor's only navigational aids. It was not until the development of the compass that maps and charts could be used with any accuracy-even so, it would be hundreds of years and thousands of shipwrecks before the marvelous instrument was perfected. And its history up to modern times is filled with the stories of disasters that befell sailors who misused it. In this page-turning history of man's search for reliable navigation of treacherous sea routes around the globe, Alan Gurney brings to life the instrument Victor Hugo called "the soul of the ship."

Illustrations:

20 illustrations.

Publication:

Imprint:

WW Norton & Co

Returns:

Non-returnable

Some other items by this author:

BELOW THE CONVERGENCE (HB)

BELOW THE CONVERGENCE (PB)

THE LOSS OF THE WAGER (PB)

THE RACE TO THE WHITE CONTINENT (PB)

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