GPS From Stones to Satellites
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The Stone Age
In the early days of man, navigation was composed remembering objects as fixed points of reference. Leaving a trial of stones, marking trees and referencing mountains are examples of primitive navigational aids. The principles of this kind of navigation has evolved and is even present in today?s sophisticated navigational aids.
The Star Age (Trigonometry)
Identifying points of reference on land was easy. However, man started to explore the oceans where the only points of reference were the sun, the moon and the stars. Naturally they became points of reference and celestial navigation began. The position of stars and their geometrical arrangement looks different at different positions on the earth. Therefore, by observing the configuration of stars, one could estimate his position. For better accuracy special optical instruments were invented to measure the angles between stars...