The Dictionary of Nautical Literacy

Book excerpt: The nautical world is a distinctive culture with its own art, traditions, lore, literature, history, idioms and even its own legal canon. While the associated body of knowledge is as big as the sea itself, there is a core of information that is vital to understanding maritime history and popular culture. A few specialized dictionaries have compiled and glossed nautical/maritime terminology, but The Dictionary of Nautical Literacy is the first to chart the culture of the sea. Avoiding trivial as well as all too familiar entries, it will identify and define the important spectrum of nautical knowledge in 3,500 or so concise entries on literature, art, history, science, engineering, language, geography, law, commerce, warfare and sociology.