Brian Stern
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Well, tomorrow never comes.
The mathematics of the sea.
Merciless.
Same with the air.
Same with life.
London, initially, 51 degrees from New York.
Florida, a sunny beach, 201 degrees.
The difference is 150 degrees.
At one degree of error per watch, six watches a day, the ship needed 150 shifts to swing from London all the way around going to Florida.
The 25th day, the helmsman on the day watch feels the wheel answer strangely.
It's a little light in his hands.
He checks the compass.
He kind of blinks.
The car shows 201 degrees.
Dead on for Miami.
The ship is no longer almost headed for London.
It's headed for Florida.
The coast of England is now behind them and to the north.
The coast of Florida is somewhere just over the southern horizon and drawing nearer every time.
How did it happen?