TttE art of shipbuilding was undoubtedly developed at a very early stage of the history of the human race. The earliest record of a ship, as distinct from a boat, canoe, or other small craft, is found in Egyptian carvings of a date about 3000 B.C. But the science of naval architecture, like so many other branches of science, developed slowly, this science, ,as now accepted, being mainly a development of the last hundred years, we may almost say of the last fifty years.
The famous Swedish naval architect and shipbuilder, Henry de Chapman, published a treatise on shipbuilding in 1775. As late as I82o we find Doctor Inman, the head of the Royal Naval College and School of Naval Architects in Portsm0uth Dockyard, England, publishing a translation of Chapman for the instruction of English students of naval architecture. Chapman's work, so far as it deals with the science of naval architecture, consists largely of empirical rules, although it was far in advance of his day, and much of it is still applicable to sailing ships. In some respects his ideas were largely erroneous, an example being his theories regarding resistance of ships. In fact, it was not until a hundred years after Chapman's time that the science of naval architecture was enriched by sound theories concerning this important branch.