Finding longitude : how clocks and stars helped solve the longitude problem /

Dunn, Richard, 1966-

Finding longitude : how clocks and stars helped solve the longitude problem / Richard Dunn, Rebekah Higgitt. - [First edition]. - 255 pages : illustrations ; 27 cm

Published to accompany the exhibition held at the National Maritime Museum, London, June 2014.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue: a world divided -- The problem -- The contenders -- On trial -- Making longitude work -- Working at sea -- Commerce and crrativity -- Defining the world.

Official publication of the National Maritime Museum's exhibition "Ships, Clocks and Stars: The Quest for Longitude". 300 years ago, amidst growing frustration from the naval community and pressure from the increasing importance of international trade, the British government passed the 1714 Longitude Act. It was an attempt to solve one of the most pressing problems of the age: how to determine a ship's longitude (east-west position) at sea. With life-changing rewards on offer, the challenge captured the imaginations and talents of astronomers, skilled craftsmen, politicians, seamen and satirists. This beautifully illustrated book is a detailed account of these stories, and how the longitude problem was solved. Finding Longitude tells a new story of one of the great achievements of the Georgian age, and how it changed our understanding of the world.

9780007525867 0007525869 9780007939893 0007939892

11431840

GBB437247 bnb

016682231 Uk


Longitude--Measurement--History--Exhibitions.
Nautical astronomy--History--Exhibitions.
Navigation--History--Exhibitions.
Longitude--Measurement.
Nautical astronomy.
Navigation.

Clock (general) United Kingdom Longitude Greewich navigation Maskelyne Catalog UK-London astronomy clock Fewster, Kevin [Foreword] Navigation


Exhibition catalogs.
Exhibition catalogs.
History.