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Quo Vadis: Evolution of Modern Navigation

The Rise of Quantum Techniques

  • Book
  • © 2014

Overview

Authors:
  1. F. G. Major

    1. Severna Park, USA

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  • Provides a broad range of topics relevant to navigation and geographic position-finding, in an intuitive manner with minimum mathematical formalism
  • Presents the progress of navigation throughout history, which enhances the understanding of the main technical challenges to be solved going forward
  • Inclusive of extensive GPS technology coverage including receivers and applications

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Navigation in Nature

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 1-22

  3. Early Navigators

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 23-45

  4. Historical Background to Astronomy

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 47-67

  5. Elements of Modern Astronomy

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 69-91

  6. Navigation at Sea

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 93-112

  7. The Longitude Problem

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 113-129

  8. The Quartz Revolution

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 131-150

  9. The Classical Atomic Clocks

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 151-180

  10. Atomic and Molecular Oscillators

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 181-202

  11. Field Confinement of Ions

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 203-223

  12. Optical Frequency Oscillators: Lasers

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 225-258

  13. The Mechanical Gyrocompass

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 259-285

  14. Radio Navigation

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 287-309

  15. Navigation by Satellite: The Space Segment

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 311-331

  16. Navigation by Satellite: Control Segment

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 333-348

  17. Satellite Navigation: The User Segment

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 349-366

  18. Navigation in Space

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 367-385

  19. The Future of Navigation

    • F. G. Major
    Pages 387-414

  20. Back Matter

    Pages 415-426
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Keywords

About this book

Quo Vadis: Evolution of Modern Navigation presents an intelligent and intelligible account of the essential principles underlying the design of satellite navigational systems—with introductory chapters placing them in context with the early development of navigational methods. The material is organized roughly as follows: the first third of the book deals with navigation in the natural world, the early history of navigation, navigating by the stars, precise mechanical chronometers for the determination of longitude at sea, and the development of precise quartz controlled clocks. Then, the reader is introduced to quantum ideas as a lead in to a discussion of microwave and optical interactions with atoms, atomic clocks, laser gyrocompasses, and time based navigation. The final third of the book deals with satellite-based systems, including orbit theory, early satellite navigation systems, and a detailed treatment of the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Intended for non-specialists with some knowledge of physics or engineering at the college level, this book covers in an intuitive manner a broad range of topics relevant to the evolution of surface and space navigation, with minimum mathematical formalism.

Reviews

From the reviews:

“The book documents well the tremendous advances in navigation from the time of the Phoenicians and provides a good review of how navigation has evolved in nature … and in human exploration. Major explains the workings of the instrumentation that scientists and engineers invented for this purpose. … The book contains good references and illustrations … . Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and undergraduate students.” (N. Sadanand, Choice, Vol. 51 (9), May, 2014)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Severna Park, USA

    F. G. Major

About the author

Dr Fouad Major was a student of Hans Georg Dehmelt, Nobel Prize winner (with Ramsey) in 1989, and was the first physicist to proves experimentally the capability of an atomic clock with ions stocked in a radio-electric quadripolar trap. He is an expert on atomic clocks and author of The Quantum Beat (Springer, 2007).

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