Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

The Newbery-winning fictionalised life of Nathaniel Bowditch, the Salem sailor who taught himself Latin and mathematics, found thousands of errors in the standard navigation tables, and published The New American Practical Navigator in 1802.

Why it’s on the list: Named in the replies to @moseskagan asking for historical fiction about building and trade rather than violence — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand and saved. A self-education story that ends in a reference work still carried on US Navy ships.

Where I saw it: In the replies to @moseskagan asking “What historical fiction should I read next? (Bonus points for something involving building or trade, rather than violence)” (April 13, 2025). Kyle recovered the reply list by hand and saved it to his “Books To Read” Apple Note; the full transcribed list lives on What historical fiction should I… (tweet).

Connections

• What historical fiction should I… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• Open Source Knowledge — the portfolio idea this sits closest to: Bowditch’s corrections were published for everyone’s use.
• Historical Fiction — the genre the thread was asking about.