READERS TODAY ARE STILL FASCINATED BY “NAT,? AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY NAUTICAL WONDER AND MATHEMATICAL WIZARD. NATHANIEL BOWDITCH GREW UP IN A SAILOR?S WORLD—SALEM IN THE EARLY DAYS, WHEN TALL-MASTED SHIPS FROM FOREIGN PORTS CROWDED THE WHARVES. BUT NAT DIDN?T PROMISE TO HAVE THE MAKINGS OF A SAILOR; HE WAS TOO PHYSICALLY SMALL. NAT MAY HAVE BEEN SLIGHT OF BUILD, BUT NO ONE GUESSED THAT HE HAD THE PERSISTENCE AND DETERMINATION TO MASTER SEA NAVIGATION IN THE DAYS WHEN MEN SAILED ONLY BY “LOG, LEAD, AND LOOKOUT.? NAT?S LONG HOURS OF STUDY AND OBSERVATION, COLLECTED IN HIS FAMOUS WORK, THE AMERICAN PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR (ALSO KNOWN AS THE “SAILORS? BIBLE?), STUNNED THE SAILING COMMUNITY AND MADE HIM A NEW ENGLAND HERO.
नॅट अर्थात बो-डिचची ही जीवनकहाणी. लहानपणापासूनच गणित विषयाच्या आवडीमुळे त्याच्यात हार्वर्ड विद्यापीठात शिकून पदवी मिळवण्याची इच्छा रूजलेली. पण घरच्या परिस्थितीमुळे त्याला शाळा सोडावी लागते. जहाजावर हिशेबनीस म्हणून काम करताना सागरी प्रवासाच्या अनुभवविश्वाशी नॅटची ओळख होते. या प्रवासात त्यानं मिळवलेलं ज्ञान आणि त्याची अपार इच्छाशक्ती त्याला त्याच्या इच्छित साध्यापर्यंत पोहोचवते. नौकानयन शास्त्रात नॅटनं केलेल्या विलक्षण कामाचा हा एक अर्थी साहित्यिक दस्ताऐवजच होय.