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The secrets of human navigation, from Polynesian sailors who navigate without a compass to Inuit trekkers in the Arctic tundra

How did humans come to occupy virtually every corner of the earth? How did Polynesian sailors navigate thousands of miles without compasses or sextants? Why does one person get lost two blocks from home while another treks fearlessly through the forest? The secrets of navigation are intimately connected to our survival as a species, but current science is limited in explaining them. In How the Brain Finds Its Way, Arne Ekstrom offers a new theory of human navigation that emphasizes the interaction between brain and behavior. Theories to explain navigation are largely based on lab studies of rats and rely on the metaphor of the map. Yet, Ekstrom points out, much of human navigation predated the invention of maps. He proposes a novel way to think about navigation that focuses on the actions of humans in the wild.

Polynesian and native navigators, whom Ekstrom extensively researched and interviewed for this book, demonstrate a highly developed and intricate ability to detect and act on cues in nature. Human navigation, he shows, can involve a range of different environmental conditions and a number of different strategies. Ekstrom argues that the best way to understand human spatial navigation is through the lens of probability and dynamic feedback. He explores ancient migration; the master navigators of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia; wilderness wayfinding and the dangers of getting off the trail; the effect of Alzheimer's disease on the ability to navigate, and the navigational capacities of taxi drivers. Humans, Ekstrom shows, have a unique ability to develop the tools they need to explore and survive in a range of different environments.