#Movable Mondays: Mariners Compass Rectified [video]
Did you ever wonder how sailors of old navigated the open seas without modern technology? Well, this week鈥檚 video may shed some light on the subject. The 鈥淢ariner's Compass Rectified,鈥 (1787) by Andrew Wakely鈥攖he third of nine videos from the #MovableMondays series, is housed in the Rare Book Collection on the fifth floor of Alden Library鈥檚 Mahn Center.
The video highlights another example of a volvelle, a moveable feature consisting of two concentric circles made of paper or parchment that would have originally been seen in medieval manuscripts.
Here the circle spins, but oftentimes, said Miriam Intrator, special collections librarian, 鈥測ou鈥檒l see more layers [of paper] containing different types of information.鈥 As a navigational text, mariners could have calculated the sunrise or a constellation on any given date.
According to , a curatorial assistant at the Getty Museum, the volvelle was an innovative tool for its time. The paper 鈥渃alculating device was considered a form of 鈥榓rtificial memory鈥 that freed users from committing large amounts of detailed information to mind. Because of this, the device has been compared to early computers鈥攖hough a comparison to a floppy disk might be more accurate.鈥
In spite of what appears to be a simplistic device, a volvelle provided a wealth of data to early scholars and mariners.
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And be sure to check out the Feb. 25 #MovableMondays that will feature 鈥淣aughty Boys.鈥 Here is what you may have missed: 鈥Astronomicum Caesareum鈥 and 鈥The Daily Express鈥