Architectura
Navalis Mercatoria by Fredrik Henrik af Chapman
Click pictures to download
One often
hears the opinion nowadays that people used to use models because they
were too ignorant and uneducated to draw lines plans back in "the old
days". We are portrayed as smarter and more sophisticated than our
predecessors, with our lines drawings and our supposed restriction of
models to the modern concept of tank testing. Old time designers are
portrayed as unlettered unsophisticated types who most likely could at
best add, subtract, multiply and divide.
Given this widely held view, your reviewer feels that one of the great
functions of this book is that it shows that in 1768 this work not only
presented beautiful, sophisticated lines drawings and other drawings
but also the companion text discusses tank testing of submerged bodies
of various shapes, and the accompanying mathematics the author is using
to explain some of his studies reach into calculus. So much for the
ignorant, uneducated "old time" designers and builders.
If
you have an interest in maritime history, the history of naval
architecture, designing reproductions of the vessels of the past,
beautiful drafting, etc., you will only be able to do without this book
if you’ve never seen a copy. See it and you’ll have to have it.
