Carry On Mr Bowditch PP

Progeny Press Study Guide


As a small boy Nathaniel Bowditch loves to work with numbers. School is Nat's favorite time. But Nat gives up his dream to go to Harvard when he must quit school to work for his father. Later, he becomes an indentured servant, working in a ship's chandlery. In spite of his situation, Nat continues his education by teaching himself. He works all day in the chandlery and in the evenings fills his notebooks with everything he wants to learn.



Nat's diligence pays off. When Nat's nine-year indenture is through, he is given the opportunity to go to sea where the things he has learned are put to use. Sailing is dangerous, not only because of enemies on the high seas, but because, as Nat discovers, many of the books and tables sailors use for navigation have errors--errors that cost lives. With the same diligence he used to teach himself, Nat begins to compile information for a new book to correct the errors of the old tables and give every sailor knowledge of navigation.



Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is the biography of a man who, although unable to attend school, educated himself so thoroughly that sailors still use the book he wrote almost 200 years ago.



Progeny Press Study Guide: 66 pages

# of Lessons: 9 Chapter Lessons + Overview

Subjects: Sailing vessels, navigation, education, indentured sertvitude, perseverance

Grade Level: 5-7