Jean Lee Latham (1902–1995)

“Mathematics is nothing if it isn’t correct! Men’s lives depend on those figures!”

Nathaniel Bowditch utters these words almost in rage in this biography of his life. Nat is a nerd - a genius with numbers - and he revolutionized navigation in the late 18th century - eventually writing The American Practical Navigator - which became THE book for sailors and saved a lot of them from shipwreck.

It's historical fiction written for teenagers - but I found it utterly refreshing reading show more about this self taught mathematical wizard. Couldn't put the book down and read it mostly in one day.

His father couldn't afford to send him to Harvard - his big dream - so he's placed in indentured service as a bookkeeper for nine years. But nothing could stop Nat's thirst for knowledge. There's something immensely satisfying reading about Bowditch's drive and determination - and the thrill of excitement as he discovers language and science. A good friend gives him Newton's Principia Mathematica - but it's in Latin, so he studies latin to read it - same with a french book - it all eventually lead to his mission in life: Correcting the navigational tables, writing the book and teach sailors on board the ship so they themselves can find their way at sea.

His personal life is filled with both love and marriage but also tragedy when several people dear to him dies at an early stage of his life. The fact of life in a seatown as Salem in those days (also as war is raging)

As YA-historical fiction this is hard to top. It was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1956. show less

Started this as a read-aloud but finished the last half on my own. It's interesting, but slow and technically detailed, but not a whole lot of secondary character development. Reading it on my own was faster and more interesting, and I'll tell my kids about it. I doubt they'll want to finish right now, but maybe someday?

Lots die in this book, and it's abrupt and then they move on.

The math and navigation was interesting. Bowditch was brilliant, and I love that he wanted to teach others on show more the ship. He knew to be effective and to truly understand something himself, he'd have to explain it clearly so someone else could understand. show less

I actually had picked up the storytape fo Bowditch for my blind son, so first I played the tape when we both could listen, figuring I would follow along in the book to see how they matched. Well, the tape was a great enactment of the condensed story (why it could fit on a single tape) but I think I liked the full book just as well.
Latham gives us full flavor of life in 1700's New England. Nathaniel is forced to become an apprentice because his family is too poor to allow him to continue in show more school. Fortunately his master is good-hearted--or perhaps just sees an advantage in encouraging Nathaniel's intelligence. We learn shipping terms along with Nathaniel. We see him being persistent in the face of adversity. He finally gets a chance to go on a shipping voyage. There is excitement & danger. He is fascinated by all he learns, & shares his love of learning w/other crew members which helps them get ahead in life. He's so smart & obsessive about math that he develops a more precise way to navigate. So there is a good moral to this story tho it never shoves it in your face. Definitely a book to pass on to boys.
2011 review show less

Readers today are still fascinated by "Nat," an eighteenth-century nautical wonder and mathematical wizard.

Nathaniel Bowditch grew up in a sailor's world--Salem in the early days, when tall-masted ships from foreign ports crowded the wharves. But Nat didn't promise to have the makings of a sailor; he was too physically small.

Nat may have been slight of build, but no one guessed that he had the persistence and determination to master sea navigation in the days when men sailed only by "log, show more lead, and lookout." Nat's long hours of study and observation, collected in his famous work, The American Practical Navigator (also known as the "Sailors' Bible"), stunned the sailing community and made him a New England hero. show less