Simon Winchester, a man who has penned some wonderful books, relates his, and mankind's, long love affair with the seas- here. A wee excerpt:
He sat up, sighed, then closed his book with an awful finality. He removed his spectacles and leaned toward me. “I regret to have to tell you that Her Majesty takes a somewhat dim view”—he paused here, evidently hoping to lighten the mood before plunging in the dirk—“of young officers trying to drive her extremely expensive warships around the world when they cannot tell red from green, and thus the left from the right. Port from starboard. Your color-blindness, I am sorry to say, ensures you will never join the Royal Navy.”
If you have never read any of Winchester's books - do. I would recommend The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology, The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, or The Professor and The Madman
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