Uncover the captivating world of homing pigeons with "Navigating the Skies: The Magnetic Magic of Homing Pigeons." Delve into the fascinating realm of avian navigation and discover how these remarkable birds harness the Earth's magnetic field to navigate across vast distances. From their historic roles in communication and wartime efforts to their modern-day applications in science and conservation, explore the enduring legacy of homing pigeons. Gain insights into the latest research and discoveries surrounding pigeon navigation while uncovering heartwarming stories and extraordinary journeys that showcase the innate abilities of these feathered navigators. Embark on a journey of discovery with "Navigating the Skies" and unlock the magnetic magic of homing pigeons.

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Secret World of Weather and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs, learn to tap into nature and notice the hidden clues all around you Before GPS, before the compass, and even before cartography, humankind was navigating. Now this singular guide helps us rediscover what our ancestors long understood—that a windswept tree, the depth of a puddle, or a trill of birdsong can help us find our way, if we know what to look and listen for. Adventurer and navigation expert Tristan Gooley unlocks the directional clues hidden in the sun, moon, stars, clouds, weather patterns, lengthening shadows, changing tides, plant growth, and the habits of wildlife. Rich with navigational anecdotes collected across ages, continents, and cultures, The Natural Navigator will help keep you on course and open your eyes to the wonders, large and small, of the natural world.

At once far flung and intimate, a fascinating look at how finding our way make us human. In this compelling narrative, O'Connor seeks out neuroscientists, anthropologists and master navigators to understand how navigation ultimately gave us our humanity. Biologists have been trying to solve the mystery of how organisms have the ability to migrate and orient with such precision—especially since our own adventurous ancestors spread across the world without maps or instruments. O'Connor goes to the Arctic, the Australian bush and the South Pacific to talk to masters of their environment who seek to preserve their traditions at a time when anyone can use a GPS to navigate. O’Connor explores the neurological basis of spatial orientation within the hippocampus. Without it, people inhabit a dream state, becoming amnesiacs incapable of finding their way, recalling the past, or imagining the future. Studies have shown that the more we exercise our cognitive mapping skills, the greater the grey matter and health of our hippocampus. O'Connor talks to scientists studying how atrophy in the hippocampus is associated with afflictions such as impaired memory, dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, depression and PTSD. Wayfinding is a captivating book that charts how our species' profound capacity for exploration, memory and storytelling results in topophilia, the love of place. "O'Connor talked to just the right people in just the right places, and her narrative is a marvel of storytelling on its own merits, erudite but lightly worn. There are many reasons why people should make efforts to improve their geographical literacy, and O'Connor hits on many in this excellent book—devouring it makes for a good start." —Kirkus Reviews

This book acts as a manual for the ancient methods of navigating by the stars, which continue to provide the sailor or pilot with a timeless means of determining location. Despite the prevalence of GPS, a comprehensive set of formulae that can be evaluated on any inexpensive scientific calculator in the event of a catastrophic software or systems failure is a vital failsafe. It also serves as a living link to centuries of explorers from centuries past. Beginning with the basics of positional astronomy, this guide moves on to the more complex math necessary to understand the ephemerides, tables showing the future positions of the stars and planets. These astronomical almanacs were the satellite navigation of their day. The objective of this book is twofold: to provide the reader with a concise, comprehensible manual on positional astronomy as it applies to astro-navigation and to furnish the concise algorithms for finding the position of the Sun and various navigational stars at any given instant. In a world where too many mariners and aeronauts rely solely on technology and are vulnerable to solar flares, electrical issues, and the like, this knowledge can be a life-saving backup, not to mention a fascinating study in its own rights. Included is an exact mathematical way to determine your position in the air or on the sea far more quickly and accurately than by using the old celestial navigational method, without even needing to know or understand the underlying mathematics. There is even a section that teaches how to measure the azimuth of a star using an analog wrist watch so if a sextant gets damaged, locating position is still possible. This book offers mathematicians and adventurers a way to determine position when the skies go dark. The U.S. Navy has recently realized that their electronic navigation systems are vulnerable to cyberattack, and as a result has instructed the Naval Academy to begin teaching celestial navigation again.

A pathbreaking history of the regulatory foundations of America's twentieth-century aerial preeminence. Today, the federal government possesses unparalleled authority over the atmosphere of the United States. Yet when the Wright Brothers inaugurated the air age on December 17, 1903, the sky was an unregulated frontier. As increasing numbers of aircraft threatened public safety in subsequent decades and World War I accentuated national security concerns about aviation, the need for government intervention became increasingly apparent. But where did authority over the airplane reside within America's federalist system? And what should US policy look like for a device that could readily travel over physical barriers and political borders? In Sovereign Skies, Sean Seyer provides a radically new understanding of the origins of American aviation policy in the first decades of the twentieth century. Drawing on the concept of mental models from cognitive science, regime theory from political science, and extensive archival sources, Seyer situates the development, spread, and institutionalization of a distinct American regulatory idea within its proper international context. He illustrates how a relatively small group of bureaucrats, military officers, industry leaders, and engineers drew upon previous regulatory schemes and international principles in their struggle to define government's relationship to the airplane. In so doing, he challenges the current domestic-centered narrative within the literature and delineates the central role of the airplane in the reinterpretation of federal power under the commerce clause. By placing the origins of aviation policy within a broader transnational context, Sovereign Skies highlights the influence of global regimes on US policy and demonstrates the need for continued engagement in world affairs. Filling a major gap in the historiography of aviation, it will be of interest to readers of aviation, diplomatic, and legal history, as well as regulatory policy and American political development.

Volume packed full of information that illuminates key astronomical concepts along side the history and legends surrounding the stars and planets.

A beginner's guide to navigating the heavens introduces readers to the basics of the night sky, employing an accessible style designed to enhance retention of facts and is accompanied by an appendix listing Web sites, books, clubs, and other resources.