The Art of Navigation

...often at sea, running from one side to the other, rising and falling by the great impetuosity of the winds and the force of the sea—despite all these things, by the certainty of his art, he Referring to the pilot. knows the path he has made and the place where he is. And as he approaches land, he reaches port, even if it be night and he cannot see the shore. It also often happens that the pilot, while navigating, finds a rock or a sandbank in the sea, separated by two hundred leagues A league (lieue) was a historical unit of distance, typically measuring about three miles or the distance a person could walk in an hour. from land; he will find the place where it is, even though he sees nothing but the sky and the sea, and cannot take a mark or a sign because everything is in motion. But he marks it on his chart alongside the land he sees depicted there, and conforms it to the art that the said chart contains; it is so certain that he and all others will know how to guard themselves by night and day from this peril. They will avoid this passage without danger, even though the entire thing is covered by water and nothing appears above the surface. Therefore, one must conclude that although all other sciences possess truth, navigation has even more: if for no other reason than the single demonstration it provides, by which it teaches man to guard against perils and dangers that he cannot see.

Thirdly, I say that none of the other arts is held to be as good or as profitable as this one. That this is true is apparent because through it we gain knowledge of the diverse and strange things found throughout the world, as well as the trade and communication of all things. If navigation were to cease, men would live very narrowly, for they would lack many things that are necessary for human life.

But one must also greatly note that among all the arts and sciences that men practice, none is so perilous, nor of such great labor, as navigation. This is especially true in this present time, as it has been so extended and broadened that there is little left of the world that has not been navigated and explored. O happy Spanish nation! The author, Pedro de Medina, was a Spanish scholar during the "Golden Age" of Spanish exploration under the Habsburgs. How much you are to be praised in this world: for no peril of death, nor fear of hunger, or...