As a child I read Master and Commander, and Aubrey's relative tolerance of homosexuality was the first time I'd heard of being gay perhaps not being a mortal si

As a child I read Master and Commander, and Aubrey's relative tolerance of homosexuality was the first time I'd heard of being gay perhaps not being a mortal sin. As for the nautical bits, I find it's no different than Star Trek. Nobody actually watches Star Trek already knowing how warp drives work, and the technical details rarely ever matter.