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The chapter sets out the story of the era of agrarian/pastoralist empires (CAPE) in terms of its material conditions and social structures. New materials were hard metals and gunpowder. New sources of energy were wind and animal power. New technologies were the sailing ship, wheeled vehicles, writing, money and paper. Society became much more complex and larger in scale, and developed many new institutions, notable amongst which were human inequality (slavery, patriarchy, economic, monarchy, dynasticism), universal religions, empire, territoriality, sovereignty, trade and diplomacy. This package of material and social conditions proved remarkably stable up to the end of the eighteenth century AD. The core military dynamic of this era was between militarily superior nomadic steppe peoples, and more numerous and wealthier sedentary civilisations.

This paper examines the evidence to support the view that the inability of seamen to determine accurate longitude at sea in sailing ships was a major factor in the loss of ships and crews that was effectively solved by the introduction of the marine chronometer. It concludes that this was not the case and that a more compelling factor for the safety of ships was the introduction of mechanical propulsion systems.

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3 - Prelude

Summary

The Age of Sail: A Time when the Fortunes of Nations and Lives of Seamen Literally Turned with the Winds Their Ships Encountered at Sea

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3 - Prelude

Summary

The Age of Sail: A Time when the Fortunes of Nations and Lives of Seamen Literally Turned with the Winds Their Ships Encountered at Sea