In today’s fast paced society, we are all about the newest electronic device. From cell phones to laptops, we need everything small, convenient, and fast. In the past GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) devices were for the real adventures, or the really lost. Now, though, most people have GPS in their phones, making road maps nearly obsolete. No more trying to get a glimpse at the map while driving or figuring out which highway your on, simply type in your beginning and ending destinations and the GPS will tell you exactly where to go.
We are quite fortunate to have such accurate navigational tools. Early discoverers such as Christopher Columbus did not even have an accurate world globe or map. To navigate, they used the stars as well as a navigational system called Dead Reckoning. Dead Reckoning involved throwing a rope that was knotted every few feet into the water and measuring the time passed with an hour glass. This helped them calculate how fast and how far they had traveled. They would also use a compass to determine the direction they were heading and make sure they were on the right course. Perhaps with a GPS, Columbus would have made it to India after all.
There was a time, before satellites and space ships, that scientists had to study space and the plants from the surface of earth. They would use telescopes and complex mathematic equations to calculate the distance of each of the plants from earth and the speed at which the earth is rotating.
So the next time your GPS acts up and you wind up in the middle of nowhere or you scoff at a well meaning map gift, remember the great lengths others before us had to go to discover new places and things and be grateful for our sometimes pain-in-the-neck technology.
Related posts: