In 1764 a French engineer on a tiny African island claimed that he could see ships beyond the horizon. In today’s show we’ll review the strange story of Étienne Bottineau and consider the evidence for his claims to have invented a new art.
We’ll also ponder a 400-year-old levitation trick and puzzle over why throwing a beer can at someone might merit a promotion.
Sources for our feature on nauscopie, the purported art of apprehending ships below the horizon:
Rupert T. Gould, Oddities: A Book of Unexplained Facts, 1928.
Sir David Brewster, Letters on Natural Magic, 1832.
J. Gregory Dill, “The Lost Art of Nauscopie,” Ocean Navigator, January/February 2003 (retrieved May 17, 2015).
Mike Dash, “Naval Gazing: The Enigma of Étienne Bottineau,” Smithsonian Magazine, Oct. 13, 2011 (retrieved May 17, 2015).
Chicago Tribune, “The Science of Nauscopie,” Nov. 7, 1869.
Greg’s post on Samuel Pepy’s “lifting experiment” appeared on Futility Closet on March 22, 2008. Further sources for that segment:
Sir David Brewster, Letters on Natural Magic, 1832.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys, July 31, 1665.
Robert Conger Pell, Milledulcia: A Thousand Pleasant Things Selected from “Notes and Queries,” 1857.
Notes & Queries, July 3, 1852 (the original query).
Notes & Queries, July 24, 1852 (Brewster offers his impressions).
“Non-Wist,” “Phenomenon of Levity in the Human Subject,” The Zoist, January 1852.
Two YouTube videos illustrate the modern technique: one, two
The YouTube discussion mentioned in this week’s lateral thinking puzzle is here (warning — this spoils the puzzle).
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Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.
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