the.com/dead reckoning
Guessing where you are by trusting where you started and never looking back.
means A method of figuring out your current position by using a known starting point plus your speed, heading, and time elapsed, rather than observing landmarks or stars.
from First recorded in navigation texts in the 1600s, the term's exact root is debated. The leading theory is that 'dead' is short for 'deduced' (sometimes abbreviated 'ded.' in old logs), reckoning being the sailor's word for calculating. A more romantic but shakier folk story ties 'dead' to 'deduced reckoning' being a navigator's grim joke about how wrong you'll be without landmarks — vivid, but less supported than the plain 'deduced' explanation.
- origin
- navigators plotting position without satellites or stars
- method
- speed times time, plus a prayer
- flaw
- errors compound silently with every mile
- name theory
- maybe short for deduced, abbreviated ded reckoning