Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (Paperback)

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, 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.

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Sat, 31 Dec 2011 | Review by: Willemien K.

This biography of Nathaniel Bowditch is delightfully written for both children and adults to enjoy as an adventure. As the book itself states, it describes a man’s journey from his ‘modest beginnings, first sea voyage, rigorous self-education, to the triumphs of his fine-tuned mastery of navigation and publication of his famous work’. Bowditch in real life has written the “Sailor’s bible” (The American Practical Navigator) who has laid the foundation for navigation today. Besides the fact that both my child who had to read it as part of her English enjoyed it, myself and my husband both thoroughly enjoyed the book. To read of such courage is an inspiration, and to see how he has educated himself in a few languages all by himself with only the aid of different translations of the bible, helps one understand how a strong enough motivation can truly support self-education. In the context of homeschooling, this book makes you think about your vision of home education and whether we are not underestimating our children’s abilities. Nathaniel had to work through such a lot of misfortune, misundertandings, disappointments and yet he never gave up. These are really good topics for discussion between you and your children. This is really a must-read for anyone !

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