The American Practical Navigator: Bowditch

The American Practical Navigator: Bowditch Features

Additional The American Practical Navigator: Bowditch Information

Nathanial Bowditch first published this encyclopedic work in 1802. During the last two centuries over 75 editions, almost 1,000,000 copies, of Bowditch have been published by the US Government. It has lived because it has combined the best technologies of each generation of navigator. This edition includes the latest advances in electronic navigation and digital charting technology. It also covers nonelectronic navigation such as celestial, plotting and dead reckoning. Bowditch contains numerous tables which have been valued for years by practicing navigators.

Bowditch is carried on the bridge of every U.S. Navy ship and should be the mainstay of any serious navigatorÂ’s library. Paradise Cay and CelestaireÂ’s commercial edition of Bowditch is a complete copy of the latest Government edition.

What Customers Say About The American Practical Navigator: Bowditch:

As such, this book is as universal a text as the "Oxford Dictionary". A classic maritime reference book; although titled the "Practical American Navigator" it is much more than a basic Northern American navigation text. In fact, I would describe it more as a comprehensive academic text of applied navigation and the associated global oceanography and meteorology. The other great thing is that the majority of the text is written in clear and plain English.

If you want to NAVIGATE this is a MUST HAVE. There is so much information in this book that you will never get rid of it. This is the text book for navigation used at the Maritime Colleges. This is the bible for navigation. It has everything you need to pass your USCG Masters licence exams for navigation and more. This book should be on every boat that sails coastal or trans-oceantic. I have the older 2 volume set. You will always be able to learn more each time you open it.

Everything you will ever need is in this book. Almost any other navigation book out there is just an abridged version of a chapter or 2 from this complete book. Every professional Merchant Mariner has and uses this book. If you have a boat, you need this book.

Those subjects are well represented and easy to understand.The book is physically imposing and the depth of information is astounding. As far as celestial goes, the book concentrates on sight reduction by tables rather than by calculator or computer. A newfound interest in celestial navigation and all things nautical prompted me purchase this book. It's divided into sections, so you can cover areas of interest a bit at a time. In that respect, it's disappointing. The background chapters for navigation astronomy are pertinent to all forms of sight reduction.I was also interested in navigational mathematics and "The Sailings". It's easy to read - for a textbook.If you enjoy this subject matter, this is one of the "go to" books. It's well worth the money.

Bowditch is the "bible" for nautical navigation. It's a must have for every serious mariner's library. My purchase was listed as used but "like new" and it was indeed like new. I'm very pleased with this purchase.

The American Practical Navigator remains the best book in its field. Every sailor man should have it.