In the age of wooden sailing ships, navigation was a matter of life and death. A small navigational error that put a ship off by a fraction of a degree would compound over the miles, days, weeks, and months, resulting in a vessel missing its target altogether. The problem with ocean travel is that the ocean is big and flat with no landmarks to use for directions. Early sailors used the stars, in particular the North Star. In fact, sailors from cultures all over the world throughout history have used the North Star as an anchor point for navigating the seas. The key is that it holds a roughly s...
