A viking saga

• Autores: Philip Ball
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3013, 2015, págs. 40-41
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • During the Middle Ages, the Vikings set sail in longships to raid settlements and plunder riches, but how they found their way is the question. They had no magnetic compasses, and the sun and stars would have been obscured on cloudy days and during the long twilight of the northern summer. According to one suggestion, the answer lies with a special crystal or "sunstone." This, some physicists argue, allowed these seafarers to navigate the north Atlantic by revealing the position of the sun when it was hidden behind clouds, and even after sunset. Yet many archaeologists and historians have serious doubts, pointing to a lack of solid evidence. Here, Ball discusses how Norse seafarers really find their way across stormy oceans with aid of a delicate crystal.