April 15, 2026

189. Salem History: Nathaniel Bowditch

58 minutes

He was a man of numbers, perhaps THE man of numbers! Nathaniel Bowditch was a math super-genius, an astrologer, a bookkeeper, a finance bro, a shipmaster, a sailor, and by any and every account, a very practical navigator. Join Sarah and Jeffrey, your favorite Salem tour guides, as they learn who exactly this son of a copper turned finance guy really is. We know him as a shipmaster and navigator, but what other innovations can we credit this math wiz with? And is his famous book “The New Practical Navigator” still in use on every US vessel today?

Bowditch, Nathaniel. The New American Practical Navigator. Various editions.

Bowditch, Nathaniel. The American Practical Navigator. Maritime Safety Innovation Lab. PDF. https://maritimesafetyinnovationlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bowditch.pdf.

“Nathaniel Bowditch, LL.D.: Mathematician, Navigator, Astronomer, 1773–1838.” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, January 1937. https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1937/january/nathaniel-bowditch-lld-mathematician-navigator-astronomer-1773.

“Nathaniel Bowditch.” The Sailing Museum & National Sailing Hall of Fame. https://thesailingmuseum.org/inductee/bowditch-nathaniel/.

“Nathaniel Bowditch.” Historic Salem, Inc. https://historicsalem.org/learn/nathaniel-bowditch/.

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Intro/Outro Music from Uppbeat:

https://uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks/unfamiliar-faces

License code: NGSBY7LA1HTVAUJE

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By Sarah Black & Jeffrey Lilley

4.8

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