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He Taught Our Sea Captains

One of the most important books to sailors from our South Shore and Cape ports was written by Nathaniel Bowditch. This book, called The Practical Navigator, was a guide for ships.

Without it, the men who brought fame and fortune to their various ports, would have been better employed ashore. In fact, The Practical Navigator was probably the most important book of all for the commerce and development of all New England. Without it, there would have been far fewer ships and correspondingly not much money to save and invest.

Bowditch, an astronomer, was born in the seaport of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1773. From his early years he showed marked ability in mathematics, in which, without ever attending a university, he attained great proficiency and fame. His work, The New Practical Navigator, won wide acceptance as an authoritative and accurate guide for seamen-navigators. He was later appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy at Harvard University.

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