Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater offers a probability of showers in the morning, and a high of sixty-nine.
On this day in 1860, Elmer Ambrose Sperry, co-inventor of the gyroscope, is born. His work greatly aided navigation:
To navigate using a magnetic compass requires constant adjustment because of the difference between true north and magnetic north, where a compass needle points. Magnetic north is not a fixed point, and the magnetic declination that a navigator must calculate varies depending where in the world the compass is located.
It makes holding a straight course over distance difficult.
Among the almost 400 patents Elmer Ambrose Sperry was awarded (nearly twice the number Thomas Edison held), was the gyroscopic compass in 1908. His system enabled ships to navigate without using magnetic north, could determine the ship’s position regardless of weather, and was unaffected by steel hulls and superstructures. The system also enabled an effective autopilot system; Sperry’s was called “Iron Mike.”
For present-day tech, here are some tips from David Pogue of the New York Times on time-savers: