Finding North: How Navigation Makes Us Human
by George Michelsen Foy /
2016 / English / PDF
204.3 MB Download
In 1844, George Michelsen Foy's great-great grandfather, captain of
a Norwegian cargo ship, perished at sea after getting lost in a
snowstorm. Foy decides to unravel the mystery surrounding Halvor
Michelsen's death-and the roots of his own obsession with
navigation-by re-creating his ancestor's trip using only period
instruments. Beforehand, he meets a colorful cast of characters to
learn whether men really have better directional skills than women;
how cells, eels, and spaceships navigate; and how tragedy results
from GPS glitches. He interviews a cabby who has memorized every
street in London, sails on a Haitian cargo sloop, and visits the
site of a secret navigational cult in Greece. At the heart of Foy's
story is this fact: navigation and the brain's memory centers are
inextricably linked. As Foy unravels the secret behind Halvor's
death, he also discovers why forsaking our navigation skills in
favor of GPS may lead not only to Alzheimer's and other diseases of
memory, but to losing a key part of what makes us human.
In 1844, George Michelsen Foy's great-great grandfather, captain of
a Norwegian cargo ship, perished at sea after getting lost in a
snowstorm. Foy decides to unravel the mystery surrounding Halvor
Michelsen's death-and the roots of his own obsession with
navigation-by re-creating his ancestor's trip using only period
instruments. Beforehand, he meets a colorful cast of characters to
learn whether men really have better directional skills than women;
how cells, eels, and spaceships navigate; and how tragedy results
from GPS glitches. He interviews a cabby who has memorized every
street in London, sails on a Haitian cargo sloop, and visits the
site of a secret navigational cult in Greece. At the heart of Foy's
story is this fact: navigation and the brain's memory centers are
inextricably linked. As Foy unravels the secret behind Halvor's
death, he also discovers why forsaking our navigation skills in
favor of GPS may lead not only to Alzheimer's and other diseases of
memory, but to losing a key part of what makes us human.
