Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

First edition cover
Author	Jean Lee Latham
Cover artist	John O'Hara Cosgrave II
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	none
Genre	Children's novel, Biographical novel
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin
Publication date	9 September 1955
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	251
ISBN	0-395-06881-9
OCLC	15814480

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is a novel by Jean Lee Latham that was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1956.

The book is a children's biography of Nathaniel Bowditch, a sailor and mathematician who published the mammoth and comprehensive reference work for seamen: The American Practical Navigator. It is an epic tale of adventure and learning.

Plot summary

The novel introduces readers to young Nathaniel "Nat" Bowditch, the son of a cooper (a maker of wooden barrels).

Nat loves school, especially mathematics. He dreams of someday attending Cambridge's Harvard University, but is forced by economic circumstances to quit school and help his father make barrels. Eventually, he ends up as an indentured servant to a ship's chandler. Still determined to continue his education, and compelled to work for the chandlery for nine long years, he begins to teach himself Latin. After being granted access to a local private library, he continues to study and to master mathematics in the evenings after work.

When his indenture is complete, he gets the chance to go to sea. There, he discovers that many of the navigational sources used at the time contain extensive and dangerous errors. He is prompted to compile a new book of navigational information. This book, The American Practical Navigator, is still in use today. Under Captain Prince, Nat learns how things work at sea. He invents a new way of working a lunar, increasing the accuracy of calculations used to find ships' locations. He also teaches the crew on the ships about navigation. It took a while for the men to understand, but when they did understand, the men, such as Lem Harvey, the crew's troublemaker, felt smart and important. He also let Little Johnny look through a sextant and search for Polaris. Eventually Nat becomes a captain himself. In the course of the book, Nat receives a honorary degree (Master of Arts) from the school he always wanted to attend, Harvard.

Deaths

Nat's grandma and mother both die at the beginning of the book (on the same page). Lizza, Nat's closest sister, died when she stumbled and fell down the stairs. Mary (Nat's oldest sister) was married to a seaman named David Martin. David and his entire crew died of fever during their voyage at sea. Nat's brother, Samuel, died of fever in the West Indies. Nat meets Elizabeth Boardman, and comforts her when her father, a sea captain, dies. Years later, they get married. On his next voyage, when Nat met another Salem captain in port during a voyage, he found out that Elizabeth had died of Consumption. Later in the story, he also finds out that Hab and William were lost at sea because of book sailing. Lem was said to be dead, but he survived. Then, when he was going to return his dowry, Elizabeth's mother invited Nat to stay with her and he married Mary Ingersoll (known as Polly), Elizabeth's cousin and well-trusted friend. Near the beginning of the book when Nat was six years old, he met a sailor named Tom Perry. Nat invested a shilling (which was all he had) in Tom Perry's boat (which was a privateer), but Tom Perry died saving a mate from an attack during the voyage.

Further reading

Intended for young readers, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch includes many dramatized and fictional components. A serious modern biography is Robert E. Berry's Yankee Stargazer, published in 1941. This book is a true story.