Search Results: Navigation

The astrolabe is an astronomical instrument used from around the 6th century to measure time and position by determining the altitude of heavenly bodies like the Sun and certain stars. Measurements were taken in reference to the viewer's...

John Harrison (1693-1776) invented an accurate marine chronometer after several decades of research and development. While the pendulum clock had already been invented in the 17th century, a clock that could withstand the vagaries of the...

Polynesian navigation of the Pacific Ocean and its settlement began thousands of years ago. The inhabitants of the Pacific islands had been voyaging across vast expanses of ocean water sailing in double canoes or outriggers using nothing...

A map illustrating a voyage around the Black Sea by Arrian of Nicomedia as described in "Periplus Ponti Euxini" (A Circumnavigation of the Black Sea). The Latin term "Periplus" is derived from the Greek word "periplous," meaning "a sailing-around."...

Unlike today, where shipbuilding is based on science and where ships are built using computers and sophisticated tools, shipbuilding in ancient Rome was more of an art relying on rules of thumb, inherited techniques and personal experience...

Learn more about TED-Ed Clubs here: https://ed.ted.com/clubs Visit the TED-Ed Clubs YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCskU_g7t6b5ecsA1CTS3y9Q View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-did-polynesian-wayfinders-navigate-the-pacific-ocean-alan-tamayose-and-shantell-de-silva...

One of the most useful skills in early times was to be able to navigate using the stars. With this ability, sailors and explorers were able to venture through their lands and even discover new ones. Here's a little on how they did it...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-magellan-circumnavigated-the-globe-ewandro-magalhaes On September 6, 1522, the "Victoria" sailed into harbor in southern Spain. The battered vessel and its 18 sailors were all that...

Viking ships were built by the Scandinavians during the Viking Age (c. 790 CE - c. 1100 CE) and were used both within Scandinavia and beyond for purposes ranging from being the most important means of transport to trade and warfare. Viking...

The establishment of the Middle and Southern English Colonies of North America was encouraged by the earlier English settlements of Jamestown Colony of Virginia in the south (founded 1607) and Plymouth Colony and, especially, Massachusetts...