Editing Navigation (section)

==History==
[[File:Licht der Zeevaert, Frontispiz.jpg|thumb|"The light of navigation", Dutch sailing handbook, 1608, showing  compass, hourglass, sea astrolabe, terrestrial and celestial globes, divider, [[Jacob's staff]] and astrolabe.]]
{{Further|History of navigation}}
{{see also|History of geodesy}} 
[[Polynesian navigation]] is probably the earliest form of open-ocean navigation; it was based on memory and observation recorded on scientific instruments like the [[Marshall Islands stick chart|Marshall Islands Stick Charts of Ocean Swells]]. Early Pacific Polynesians used the motion of stars, weather, the position of certain wildlife species, or the size of waves to find the path from one island to another.<ref name="x565">{{cite web | last=Vermillion | first=Stephanie | title=Polynesia's master voyagers who navigate by nature | website=BBC Home | date=2021-07-27 | url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210726-polynesias-master-voyagers-who-navigate-by-nature | access-date=2025-04-18}}</ref><ref name="n388">{{cite web | title=The history and mystery of Polynesian navigation | website=Phys.org | date=2019-03-25 | url=https://phys.org/news/2019-03-history-mystery-polynesian.html | access-date=2025-04-18}}</ref><ref name="s290">{{cite web | last=Martins | first=Kim | title=Polynesian Navigation & Settlement of the Pacific | website=World History Encyclopedia | date=2020-08-07 | url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1586/polynesian-navigation--settlement-of-the-pacific/ | access-date=2025-04-18}}</ref> Among the first proper navigational instruments was the [[compass]], with one of the oldest [[China|Chinese]] in origin from the [[Han dynasty]] (since c. 206 BC).<ref name="Li Shu-hua, p. 176">[[#Li|Li Shu-hua]], p. 176</ref> The compass was later adopted for sea navigation by the [[Song dynasty]] Chinese during the 11th century.<ref name="Barbara M. Kreutz 367">[[#Kreutz|Kreutz]], p. 367</ref><ref name="needham volume 4 part 1 252">Needham, Joseph (1986) ''Science and civilisation in China'', Vol. 4: "Physics and physical technology", Pt. 1: "Physics", Taipei. p. 252 Caves Books, originally publ. by Cambridge University Press (1962), {{ISBN|0-521-05802-3}}</ref><ref name="Li Shu-hua, p. 182f">[[#Li|Li Shu-hua]], p. 182f.</ref> The first usage of a compass recorded in [[Western Europe]] and the [[Islamic world]] occurred around 1190.<ref name=OEPST>{{Cite encyclopedia | publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-981257-8| editor= Ibrahim Kalin | last = Schmidl | first = Petra G. | title = Compass | encyclopedia = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam| date = 2014| pages=144–146}}</ref>

Maritime navigation using scientific instruments such as the [[mariner's astrolabe]] first occurred in the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages. Although [[astrolabe|land astrolabes]] were invented in the [[Hellenistic period]] and existed in [[classical antiquity]] and the [[Islamic Golden Age]], the oldest record of a sea astrolabe is that of [[Spanish people|Spanish]] astronomer [[Ramon Llull]] dating from 1295.<ref name="oxfordShipsAndSea">''The Ty Pros Companion to Ships and the Sea'', Peter Kemp ed., 1976 {{ISBN|0-586-08308-1}}</ref> The perfecting of this navigation instrument is attributed to [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] navigators during early [[Portuguese discoveries]] in the [[Age of Discovery]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Comandante Estácio dos Reis |title=Astrolábios Náuticos |year=2002  |publisher=INAPA |isbn=978-972-797-037-7}}</ref><ref name="ancruzeiros.pt">{{cite web |url=http://www.ancruzeiros.pt/anci-astrolabio.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-04-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122134304/http://www.ancruzeiros.pt/anci-astrolabio.html |archive-date=2012-11-22 }}</ref> The earliest known description of how to make and use a sea astrolabe comes from Spanish cosmographer [[Martín Cortés de Albacar]]'s ''Arte de Navegar'' (''The Art of Navigation'') published in 1551,<ref name="swanick">Swanick, Lois Ann. ''An Analysis Of Navigational Instruments In The Age Of Exploration: 15th Century To Mid-17th century'', MA Thesis, Texas A&M University, December 2005</ref> based on the principle of the [[archipendulum]] used in constructing the [[Egyptian pyramids]]. However, the first altitude measuring instrument to navigate extensively used at sea was the [[Quadrant (instrument)|quadrant]].<ref name="Williams1992">Williams, 1992:35</ref> This was reintroduced by Leonardo of Pisa in the 13th century.<ref name="Williams1992"/> Its first recorded use was in 1461 by [[Diogo Gomes]].<ref name="Williams1992"/> As well as astrolabes and quadrants, the first [[Jacob's staff|cross-staff]] used in navigation was known from the 14th century onwards, believed to have come from early Arab navigators.<ref name="Williams37">Williams, 1992:37</ref> However, it had many errors and was also difficult to use as it required squinting at the sun.<ref name="Williams37"/> These disadvantages were overcome with the invention of the [[backstaff]] in 1595 by [[John Davis (explorer)|John Davis]].<ref name="Williams37"/>

[[File:Yale's Hartmann astrolabe.jpg|thumb|right|German 16th century astrolabe]]
Widespread open-seas navigation using the astrolabe, quadrant, backstaff and the [[compass]] started during the Age of Discovery in the 15th century. The Portuguese began systematically exploring the [[Atlantic]] coast of [[Africa]] from 1418, under the sponsorship of [[Henry the Navigator|Prince Henry]]. In 1488 [[Bartolomeu Dias]] reached the [[Indian Ocean]] by this route. In 1492 the [[Ferdinand and Isabella|Spanish monarchs]] funded [[Christopher Columbus]]'s expedition to sail west to reach the [[Indies]] by crossing the Atlantic, which resulted in the [[Discovery of the Americas]]. In 1498, a Portuguese expedition commanded by [[Vasco da Gama]] reached [[India]] by sailing around Africa, opening up direct trade with [[Asia]]. Soon, the Portuguese sailed further eastward, to the [[Maluku Islands|Spice Islands]] in 1512, landing in [[China]] one year later. The first circumnavigation of the earth was completed in 1522 with the [[Timeline of Magellan's circumnavigation|Magellan-Elcano expedition]], a Spanish voyage of discovery led by Portuguese explorer [[Ferdinand Magellan]] and completed by Spanish navigator [[Juan Sebastián Elcano]] after the former's death in the [[Philippines]] in 1521. 

For sailing ships, other developments took place with [[nautical chart|charting]] and methods to record courses.<ref name="Williams30">Williams, 1992:30</ref> One of the oldest surviving marine charts is the Carta Pisana, drawn on a sheepskin, dating to 1275.<ref name="Williams28">Williams, 1992:28</ref> On land, improvements in the production of [[maps]] led to improved navigation by armies, traders and other travellers.<ref name="l842">{{cite book | last=Andrews | first=John Harwood | title=Maps in Those Days | publisher=Four Courts press | publication-place=Dublin | date=2009 | isbn=978-1-84682-188-2}}</ref> For sailing ships, navigation by [[dead reckoning]] requires frequent recording of course changes and the ship tacks with the wind.<ref name="Williams30"/> To prevent paper charts, which were expensive and in the early days, rare, from being worn out, other methods were used, including the [[Traverse board]] and traverse tables (the oldest traverse tables, dates back to 1428).<ref name="Williams30"/> Quadrants were further developed by inventors such as [[Robert Hooke]], [[Isaac Newton]] and [[John Hadley]] leading to the invention of the [[Octant (instrument)|octant]].<ref name="Williams96">Williams, 1992:96-97</ref> 
[[file:Harrison's Chronometer H5.JPG|thumb|right|Harrison's Chronometer H5 of 1772, now on display at the [[Science Museum, London]]]]
Developments in mathematics were also important in the history of navigation.<ref name="Williams41">Williams, 1992:41</ref> These include initially [[meridional parts]], then developments in [[spherical trigonometry]] and [[logarithms]] enabled navigators from the 1700s onwards to navigate more accurately.<ref name="Williams41"/> On land, mathematical and new instruments led to developments in [[Surveying]] and [[triangulation]] which further improved maps, as well as the construction of better roads, paths, canals and eventually railways.<ref name="z725">{{cite web | title=Evolution of surveying and surveying technology | website=Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping | url=https://www.icsm.gov.au/education/fundamentals-land-ownership-land-boundaries-and-surveying/surveyors-and-surveying-0 | access-date=2025-04-18}}</ref><ref name="x749">{{cite web | last=Tyrrell | first=Rachel | title=Surveying the past – the origins of surveying | website=The Survey Association | date=2023-08-16 | url=https://www.tsa-uk.org.uk/surveying-the-past-the-origins-of-surveying/ | access-date=2025-04-18}}</ref> Development of an accurate [[marine chronometer]] under [[John Harrison]] and others ensured accurate timekeeping for calculating [[longitude]].<ref name="Williams81">Williams, 1992:81</ref> Further improvements in ocean navigation led to the first proper [[sextant]] in 1757, the parts and usage developed by various inventors including [[Pierre Vernier]] and [[John Campbell (Royal Navy officer)|John Campbell]].<ref name="Williams98">Williams, 1992:98</ref> Various methods for calculation with sextant and chronometer evolved over time, beginning with the Duller method (1728) but reached their most accessible with the Douwes method (1821), the Sumner method (1837), modified by Henry Raper (1844) and the Marc St Hilaire or [[intercept method]] (1877).<ref name="Williams110">Williams, 1992:110-114</ref> Modifications to the magnetic compass and better methods of determining course were also important, include developments in the compass by [[Matthew Flinders]], [[Lord Kelvin]] and others.<ref name="Williams132">Williams, 1992:132-135</ref> 

The sextant, together with the chronometer, compass and astronomical calculations became the most widely used methods of maritime navigation until developments in the 20th century with [[radio-navigation]] and [[gyrocompasses]].<ref name="Williams98"/> These in turn were superseded with the advent of computers, [[electronic calculator]]s and later [[satellite navigation]] in the 20th century.<ref name="Williams198">Williams, 1992:198</ref> On land, the development of handheld [[GPS]] occurred in the 1980s and with the advent of smartphones, with in-build compassess and satellite receivers, navigation is now widely achieved through technology globally.<ref name="n283">{{cite web | title=Release date history | website=GPS Training | date=2024-07-19 | url=https://gpstraining.co.uk/blogs/news/outdoor-gps-units-release-date-history?srsltid=AfmBOoprplgSwqjwguO3zPnJjOKaACMATgJGNsUQKXW2ZVi2j29_ensk | access-date=2025-04-18}}</ref><ref name="c139">{{cite web | last=Yohannes | first=Samraweet | title=Smartphones may be our greatest tool for outdoor and indoor navigation | website=CBC | date=2023-02-24 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/smartphones-may-be-our-greatest-tool-for-outdoor-and-indoor-navigation-1.6751354 | access-date=2025-04-18}}</ref>