Which limitation constrained the accuracy of dead reckoning navigation before Harrison's chronometer?

💡 Explanation

Before accurate chronometers, longitude estimation depended on dead reckoning and distance estimation because longitude calculation requires very precise time knowledge, leading to cumulative error with each course change. Therefore the uncertainty was highest in longitude, rather than latitude or magnetic declination which relied primarily on celestial observations or magnetic compass variations.

• Which navigational error increases consistently on an 18th-century ship relying solely dead reckoning without celestial fixes?
• Which structural weakness increased when 18th-century shipbuilders rapidly assembled green timber hulls?
• Which optical phenomenon did Alhazen (Ibn al-Haytham) utilize to improve the accuracy of sundials?
• Which effect arises when an astrolabe's altitude scale manufacturing precision degrades over time due to repeated use?
• Which structural effect arises when Gothic cathedral buttresses experience uneven settlement?
• Which systematic error appears in historical astrolabe altitude measurements taken nearing the horizon?