EVERY-DAY SCIENCE

BY
HENRY SMITH WILLIAMS, M.D., LL.D.
ASSISTED BY
EDWARD H. WILLIAMS, M.D.

VOLUME VII.

THE CONQUEST OF TIME AND SPACE

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK AND LONDON
THE GOODHUE COMPANY
PUBLISHERS · MDCCCCX

Copyright, 1910, by The Goodhue Co.
All rights reserved

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE CONQUEST OF THE ZONES

Geographical knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, p. 5—The mariner's compass, p. 7—Reference to the thirty-two points of the compass by Chaucer, p. 9—Halley's observations on the changes in the direction of the compass in a century, p. 10—Deviation of the compass, p. 11—The voyage of the Carnegie, the non-magnetic ship, p. 12—The "dip of the needle" first observed by Robert Norman, p. 13—The modern compass invented by Lord Kelvin, p. 14—Sailing by dead reckoning, p. 14—The invention of the "log," p. 15—The modern log, p. 17—The development of the sextant, p. 18—The astrolabe, p. 19—The quadrant invented by Hadley, p. 20—The perfected sextant, p. 21—Perfecting the chronometer, p. 23—The timepieces invented by the British carpenter, John Harrison, p. 25—The prize won by Harrison, p. 27—Finding time without a chronometer, p. 28—The Nautical Almanac, p. 30—Ascertaining the ship's longitude, p. 31—Difficulties of "taking the sun" at noon, p. 33—Measuring a degree of latitude, p. 34—The observations of Robert Norman, p. 35—The function of the Nautical Almanac, p. 37—Soundings and charts, p. 41—Mercator's projection, p. 44—The lure of the unknown, p. 45—The quest of the Pole, p. 47—Commander Peary's achievement, p. 49—How observations are made in arctic regions, p. 50—Making observations at the Pole, p. 52—Difficulties as to direction at the Pole, p. 54.

CHAPTER II

THE HIGHWAY OF THE WATERS

Use of sails in ancient