18th C Indian Ocean VoyagesMain MenuThe Voyage of the Prince de ContiFollow a French East India Company voyageLascarsSouth Asian sailors on the Prince de ContiThe Grim Side of SailingDeath and Disease on the Prince de ContiClimbing the LadderFollow the career trajectories of skilled sailorsAlong for the ridePassengers on the Prince de ContiMargaret Schottef1cf1ba52c6ad9ac71dc2f31f540ecfd6f863db2Matt Robertshawb17ae2d86131f0de10f5609f41b12fea9cbbd232
Math and Science at Sea
1media/ChautardTraittedeGeom5277.pngmedia/himesh-kumar-behera-t11oyf1K8kA-unsplash.jpg2021-08-18T14:58:39-04:00Matt Robertshawb17ae2d86131f0de10f5609f41b12fea9cbbd23210113Sailors' homework on the Prince de Contiimage_header51552022-10-31T15:01:32-04:00Margaret Schottef1cf1ba52c6ad9ac71dc2f31f540ecfd6f863db2There were numerous people involved in navigating these ships -- most French vessels of this size had 3 navigators (pilotes), at least one of whom was expected to be an expert in long-distance sailing. (One of the others would specialize in coastal sailing and was expected to be knowledgeable about the particular harbours along the way.) These pilots also had 'pilot's mates,' younger men whom they were training. Certain officers were also interested in learning how to calculate the ship's position from the sun and stars. At noon, all of these men would gather around the binnacle (which housed the ship's compass) and make observations. They often compared their findings with their peers, and this group work acted as a corrective if their findings were too far off.
Follow the links below to see evidence of the mathematics that was part of daily life at sea.
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12021-08-17T11:29:29-04:00Matt Robertshawb17ae2d86131f0de10f5609f41b12fea9cbbd232What would you like to explore?Matt Robertshaw48visual_path2023-01-18T14:36:46-05:00Matt Robertshawb17ae2d86131f0de10f5609f41b12fea9cbbd232
