Location: Mathematical Institute, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG
Date: Saturday 22 November 2025
Time: 10:30am - 17:00pm GMT
Booking: Registration to attend this conference is free, although voluntary contributions to support HAPP and enable its activities to continue into the future can be made at this link below:
Contribute to Support HAPP
Booking is required to attend the conference as below:
- To book an in-person place including the conference dinner click here.
- To book a place for the online livestream on YouTube click here.
Contact: If you have any questions about the event or booking please contact HAPP on happ-centre@stx.ox.ac.uk
This conference will examine the physical history of navigation, beginning with how ancient civilisations navigated by the stars and other celestial bodies, then considering navigation by land, sea and air using various instruments (prior to modern technology) and concluding with the developments in modern technology for navigation including in space.
The programme for the day is below:
MORNING CHAIR:
10.30am: WELCOME
10.40am: Professor Joseph Caruana (University of Malta) - Celestial Navigation in Ancient Times
11.30am: Dr Jane Wess (formerly University of Edinburgh) - A History of Land Navigation Instruments Before the Digital Era
12.20pm: Daisy Chamberlain (Royal Museums Greenwich) - Navigating the Oceans Before Modern Technology
1.15pm: LUNCH BREAK
AFTERNOON CHAIR:
2.15pm: Susan Lindsay (Army Flying Museum) - Willy-Nilly Misbehaviour: Navigation in the Early Years of Aviation
3.05pm: Professor Cathryn Mitchell (University of Bath) - Radio Navigation: From LORAN to GPS
4pm: TEA/COFFEE BREAK
4.30pm: SUMMARY OF THE DAY'S PROCEEDINGS - Professor Marek Ziebart (Royal Institute of Navigation and UCL)
There will be a conference dinner at St Cross College in the evening following the end of the conference with an after-dinner talk by Professor Richard Holland (Bangor University) on navigation by animals, birds and fish. Booking to attend the conference dinner can be made here.
