Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Deep sea navigation
(3,506 words)

1. Middle Ages

Unlike coastal shipping, which is conducted within sight of the shore, deep sea navigation ventures into the high seas without reference to the coast. There was already some deep sea navigation in the Middle Ages. In the Pacific, the Polynesians in their sailing catamarans navigated by interference patterns in the waves of the sea and by the stars. In the Indian Ocean, Arab sailors made use of the monsoon. In…

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Ellmers, Detlev, “Deep sea navigation”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_021014>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626



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