Abstract
Lochium Funis was introduced by Johann Elert Bode in Uranographia (1801b; Fig. 8.1) as an elaboration on the figure of Pyxis Nautica (the Nautical Compass) devised by Lacaille in 1763, solving the problem of a number of faint, unformed stars in the vicinity of Pyxis. Bode evidently intended them to be interpreted as a single figure, enclosing them within a common boundary and listing together their stars in the accompanying catalog Allgemeine Beschreibung und Nachweisung der Gestirne. Together they formed a set of navigational tools: the compass measured the direction of Argo Navis, while the log and line gave its speed.
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Notes
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- 2.
“De la Caille hat erstern eingeführt, und ich habe hier noch letztere beygefügt, um ausser der Erfindung der Richtung eines Schiffs auch die der Gescheindigkeit desselbden zu bezeichnen. Beyde stehen zunächst ostwärts bey dem über unsern Horizont noch aufgehenden Theil des Shiffes.”
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It is from this procedure that the common unit “knot”, meaning one nautical mile per hour, is derived.
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Barentine, J.C. (2016). Lochium Funis. In: Uncharted Constellations. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27619-9_8
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