Bowditch

Bowditch is a surname most notably associated with Nathaniel Bowditch (1773–1838), an American navigator and mathematician who played a pivotal role in modernizing maritime navigation. He is best known for The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, a comprehensive manual that compiled and systematized practical navigation, celestial navigation, and arithmetic for sailors.

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Bowditch grew up in poverty and educated himself in mathematics and navigation. He gained experience aboard merchant ships and, through careful study, corrected errors in earlier navigational texts. His manual emphasized clear methods, reliability, and the use of tables and rules of thumb to perform calculations accurately at sea, reducing the likelihood of costly errors.

The New American Practical Navigator became the standard reference for mariners in the United States and beyond. It covered timekeeping, chartwork, celestial navigation, and lunar-distance methods, and was revised and expanded in numerous editions throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The work is commonly referred to simply as Bowditch; the modern English edition is titled The American Practical Navigator and is published by the U.S. government along with other publishers, continuing to serve as a foundational navigation reference for sailors worldwide.

Bowditch’s emphasis on practical computation, standardized procedures, and accuracy had a lasting impact on maritime safety and efficiency. He is regarded as a foundational figure in the history of navigation and maritime science, with his name enduring in the standard reference used by navigators to this day.