But Depasquale said many students get the opportunity to use their navigational skills with family members while sailing or hiking.

“I’ve heard that some students who took the class before World War II were able to use a lot of what they learned in the Navy,” he added.

“Navigation and mapping are problems every civilization had to face, and in looking into the various methods they used, we can look back into the development of science and technology in each civilization,” Sadler said.

Last night, the class met inside a inflatable planetarium, invented by Sadler himself, in which they observed stars, constellations and celestial coordinates.

“It’s rather like kindergarten, where you actually get to do things and ask as many questions as you want,” said Yi Liu ’05.