Re: North again

[Jim Green <JMGreen@SISNA.COM>]

> If this was a question from a student I would say "probably
> from noticing that there is a star around which all other stars
> are turning. It is Polaris. Facing this star we are facing North."
> But a "fundamental question" asked by a scholar calls for
> something better than a guess. So I would say "I do not know."

I guess so.  Ludwik, at the time under consideration there was no North Star.

> Here is a quote from William Gilbert (1600): "Over-inquisitive
> theologians, too, seek to light up God's mysteries and things
> beyond man's understanding by means of the lodestone as a
> sort of Delphic sward and as an illustration of all sort of things."

Folks, when did the lodestone come to light?  Surely the concept of north
came long before this.  And celestial navigation of sorts is surely older
than that.

Jim Green
mailto:JMGreen@sisna.com
http://users.sisna.com/jmgreen