#A Medieval Reenactor s Perspective (2003-06-02) As a medieval reenactor with a nautical persona, I bought this book to get some information on navigational instruments used in the Middle Ages. This book is a gold mine of information on making and using traditional navigational instruments. Although some of the instruments do not fit into my time of interest (Western Europe 1066-1603), most do, and the instructions on making and using them are good. The historical information is spotty,and some information does not agree with other sources that I consider reliable, but this is not i...

#An interesting book! (2002-01-04) This is an interesting book for those who want to know a bit more about the history of navigational tools, by showing you how to build a few of them. Don t expect to build a high-precision instrument directly from the contents, but if you are looking for a book that will start you on the right path, then this is it.

#Excellent Concept. Poor Execution. (2001-09-04) The Good: An excellent overview ancient navigational instruments. In addition to sundials, octants and compasses, Fisher covers such escoteric tools as the traverse board (used to track direction and ship speed), the weatherglass (early barometer), the kamal (arabian navigation tool) and the cross staff (predecessor to the octant). The Bad: Very crude, hand-drawn illustrations and building plans. No photographs or contemporary illustrations of the actual instruments. Though it is clear that the author has made each of these ins...

#a set of projects and histories (2001-07-11) This is not just a craft/wood working set of plans (and a very good set too) it is a history of the tools of navagation. The tools I built from this book work. They are not the best things to use for finding your way (wood instead of metal). But they work reasonably well.

#Nice projects, but not enough explaination (2001-06-28) This has a good selection of projects, but I would have appreciated more detail on how and why the tools work and what is going on. It could use a bit more math and science. This is only useful in conjunction with other books on celestial navigation.