THESE days some people don't seem to be able to find their way home from work without using their sat-nav, but imagine trying to navigate across vast areas of open ocean without any form of electronic equipment.

Reading the Waves and Shooting the Sun is the latest in the National Maritime Museum's series of in-depth Discovery Talks on Wednesday Apri 30.

Richard Dunn, Curator of the History of Navigation at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, will be exploring the methods seafarers developed over the centuries to take their vessels safely and speedily from place to place.

This illustrated talk will be looking at the techniques and instruments for navigating by the stars that predominated in Europe, as well as those developed in other parts of the world, including Polynesia.

Richard Dunn said: "This will be a great chance to explore how European sailors cracked the challenge of using the stars to find their way across vast oceans. We'll also be looking at the ways in which Pacific seafarers negotiated equally huge distances with what, at first glance, look like much simpler techniques and examining the similarities and differences between these approaches."

To book seats call 01326 214546.

3:35pm Monday 21st April 2008

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