Tag Archives: Longitude Project

More than transitory interest: an instrument of note

Posted on August 1, 2012 by

Slightly belatedly, here’s a cross-posting of my last post on the Longitude Project blog, which takes a closer look at a significant astronomical relic: A lesson quickly learned in the world of museum collections and displays – perhaps especially in … Continue reading →

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Long-distance longitude

Posted on May 9, 2012 by

Over a year ago I wrote a post ‘Sympathetic vibrations‘ that mentioned a 1688 pamphlet that included (as satire) a means of finding longitude by using a ‘Powder of Sympathy’. The idea was that this could be used to enduce … Continue reading →

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There was no such thing as the Longitude Prize

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

As a result of the old question “Did Harrison win the Longitude Prize?”, and recent discussions on Twitter, started by Marcus du Sautoy here (he had been filming with the Royal Observatory’s Senior Specialist in Horology, Jonathan Betts, that day) … Continue reading →

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Lovelace, longitude and lady computers

Posted on October 8, 2011 by

I also wrote a post yesterday to mark Ada Lovelace Day [read more].

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Scheming Jack

Posted on October 6, 2011 by

Some time back, Adrian Teal was good enough to share a great quote with me, and it is high time that I got it up onto the Longitude Project blog. It is nice because it gives us a very different view of John … Continue reading →

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The virtue of simplicity

Posted on July 5, 2011 by

A week or so ago I was fortunate enough to be included in the annual Research Day at UCL’s Department of Science and Technology Studies, where staff, students and Honorary Fellows get together to hear what everyone is up to. I … Continue reading →

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John Who? The sixth Astronomer Royal

Posted on February 16, 2011 by

Over on the Longitude Project blog, the last few posts have focused heavily Nevil Maskelyne, 5th Astronomer Royal and a key player in the Board of Longitude, the bicentenary of whose death was marked last week. However, 2011 also inevitably marks 200 … Continue reading →

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Rehabilitating Nevil Maskelyne

Posted on February 9, 2011 by

Today is the bicentenary of the death of the fifth Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne. He is best known as the villain of Dava Sobel’s Longitude. This depiction is unfair, as is this book’s suggestion that astronomical and chronometric solutions to the problem … Continue reading →

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Longitude ups and downs

Posted on January 13, 2011 by

The Longitude Project blog is now taking off nicely and, even at this early stage, it is demonstrating how the, possibly stale-sounding, topic of the history of the Board of Longitude reaches into all sorts of interesting areas in Georgian history … Continue reading →

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Longitude Project and Blog

Posted on December 3, 2010 by

My blogging loyalties are now divided (or perhaps cross-fertilised) as I am also blogging at the new Longitude Blog, set up for all the researchers involved with an AHRC-funded project on the history of the Board of Longitude at the … Continue reading →

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