Longitude are lines, which are also called meridians that run between the North and South Poles. Longitude lines are measured East and West while latitude lines are measured North and South. Both are used to find an exact spot on a map. The prime meridian is 0° longitude, it runs through Greenwich, England. The history of longitude started in around the 1700's when there was a longitude contest being held. At that time, people were able to calculate latitude, but not longitude. Sailors were not able to state their exact position on earth. They were soon lost at sea after they left land. Traveling along well-known routes was dangerous, since there were a lot of pirates in those places. In 1714, England's Parliament offered a big prize, which …show more content…
The prime meridian, which is 0° longitude, was defined as the meridian going through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich near London. As the earth rotates 360° in 24 hours, it rotates 15° in one hour. For example, if the time difference between your two points was 2 hours, you would multiply 15 by 2, which would equal 30° of longitude. The time in Greenwich could be figured out by measuring the moon's motion relative to the stars. The Royal Observatory in Greenwich established an accurate catalogue of the positions of bright stars. The motion of the moon relative to these stars could then be used as a natural clock to calculate Greenwich time. Finally this method was not too …show more content…
They said that they would pay Harrison half of the prize (£10,000), after he would show all of his workings to a specially-appointed committee. They also believed that the accuracy of H4 was a fluke and that copies of the watch should be made and tested. After he had received his price, all 4 of his timekeepers should be handed in finally. In August, 1765 John and William Harrison disclosed the inner workings of H4 to 6 experts that signed the certificate for the task. The Board said that the 4 timekeepers should be handed in to them and asked Harrison to recommend someone that would copy H4. Harrison then received half of his prize after he recommended Larcum Kendall, another watchmaker who had helped with the creation of H4. For the second half of the prize, the Board of Longitude insisted that Harrison had to make 2 more copies of his watch. The Harrison's worked on H5 while Kendall worked on K1, the copy of H4. The Board did not accept the 2 copies of Harrison's watch, and said that they had to be done by the Harrison's themselves. William was invited to an interview with King George III, who agreed with him about the problem. In 1772 H5 was put on a trial by the king and preformed superbly. Still, the Board of Longitude refused to give John and William the second half of the prize. John and William petitioned the Parliament and were finally awarded with £8750 in June 1773 by Act of
Like the Arabs, the Europeans sometimes let their religion come between them and the truth. The best example of this is what Boorstin refers to as the “Great Interruption,” a time in the Middle Ages where theological, rather than geographical, accuracy was prioritized in mapmaking. Rather than continuing the work of Ptolemy and refining his rectangular coordinate system, cartographers “spent their energies embroidering a neat, theologically appealing picture of what was already known, or was supposed to be known.” (Boorstin, 100) Maps depicted the world as a circular disc divided into three parts, the three parts being the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, separated by a T-shaped flow of water. Jerusalem was always in the center of the maps; the justification came from a verse in Ezekiel saying that God had placed Jerusalem in the midst of the nations, which was interpreted literally. Allowing Christian dogma to determine the shape of the earth was a major failing in Boorstin’s eyes; nevertheless, the episode was only an “interruption,” and Europe eventually resumed discovery. Firstly, Boorstin credits the west for the modern clock and calendar. Although earlier versions of clocks from other parts of the world are mentioned, the author focuses primarily on the contributions of westerners to its development. When missionary
Ancient Pueblo Indians had a great understanding of astronomy. All of the pueblos in the canyon were aligned to match the movements of the sun and moon. Also, they marked their complexes with daggers and spirals to keep up with the moon cycles and sun movements. The film explains that the moon moves north for nearly ten years and then south for about ten years. To fully understand this cycle of the moon, Pueblo people had to study it for years in order to build their Pueblos in relations to it. The sun however, was different because it set and rose in the same position. The concept of building structures in an astronomical pattern this complex cannot be found anywhere else.
The invention of the GPS started with Dr. Ivan Getting leaving his position at Raytheon Company, and armed with the knowledge of what was at the time the most advanced navigational technology in the world, they began developing the Global Positioning System. He, Roger L. Easton, and Bradford Parkison began in the 60’s with a constellation of 24 satellites (placed in six orbital planes) orbiting the earth at a very high altitude (about
A group called the Powers had their own thrones of doom and were the “most holy gods.” They held council which shows already that order and rule was important. The Powers chose to give names to different times of the day spanning morning, afternoon and night and so on. This structure allowed for a calendar-like count of the days and years so that people could keep track of time. If the sun was visible in one position it was a certain time and they’d know that next the sun would set and then the moon would begin to rise marking the end of a
This all began when Sir Walter Raleigh, a wealthy courtier, sought-after permission from Queen Elizabeth I to establish a colony in North America. On March 25th 1584 he got a charter to start the colony. Raleigh funded and authorized the expedition .He sent two explorers by the names of Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to claim land for the queen,they departed on the west side of England on April 27th . On May 10 they arrived at the Canaries, a series of islands near the northwest coast of mainland Africa. They arrived at the West Indies on June 10 and stayed there for twelve days then left. On July 4 the explorers saw North American land, they sailed for nine days more looking for an entryway to the sea or river and found one on June 13th. They then set off to explore the land and place it on the map . After they went back two additional journeys there followed after. One group arrived in 1585 and went there for...
Graham gave Harrison a loan that Harrison used to fund the building of his first sea clock. Harrison called his clock Harrison’s number 1 or H-1 for short. To test the clock it was put aboard the H.M.S. Centurion, which was headed for Lisbon. The Board of Longitude convened for the first time ever to discuss the H-1. Harrison asked the board for funds that would allow him to fix the flaws of the H-1. Before, Testing the H-2 he asked for funds to create the H-3 which would once again fix the flaws of the previous
Political factors in the 18th century involving the Islamic conquest of Spain, France, North Africa and parts of the Mediterranean, successfully hindered European expedition to the Far East for succeeding centuries. This made many early explorers like Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama look for new trade path to the East. Ocean expeditions were very treacherous at this time. The weather could not be predicted, the navigation techniques were still primarily ancient and maps were scandalously unre...
The Egyptians calendar was based on the celestial bodies to determine the passing of time. For thousands of years, there have been records of timekeeping in the different cultures of past times. The Egyptian calendar was first based on the moon's cycles, but then discovered the Sirius which rose every 365 days. The Egyptian calendar and this discovery have led this to be one of the earliest discoveries that began in about 3100 BC. In the Egyptian culture the moon, stars, sun and planet are very important to the discovery of timekeeping for the calendar.
Beginning in 1950, the 38th Parallel has been considered by many to be the most dangerous place on earth. Since then, it has still retained its reputation as the most dangerous border on earth. Since 1950, there have been multiple battles where the fighting has crossed back and forth over the 38th parallel, involving small countries like North and South Korea, and bigger countries like the United States and China. After the Korean War, the 38th parallel hasn’t seen many battles, however, it is still seen as one of the most dangerous places on earth due to various factors.
Upon its first mention the moon is used as a marker for the passage of time. In the opening lines of the play Theseus, the duke of Athens, laments to his fiancée Hippolyta that time is passing too slow and blames this on the moon:
Some of them adapted it and tried to make its technology better, whereas others just used them in daily life. The water clock has changed a bit over time, however only a few modern day versions are left today. French scientist Bernard Gitton started making his “Time-Flow Clocks, which are a modern-day approach to the ancient version. It uses 265 litres of water, methyl alcohol and food colouring to give the visitors the time of day.
Since the first Egyptian farmers discovered the annual reappearance of Sirius just before dawn a few days before the yearly rising of the Nile, ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean have sought to explain the movements of the heavens as a sort of calendar to help guide them conduct earthly activities. Counting phases of the moon or observing the annual variations of day length could, after many years' collection of observations, serve as vital indicators for planting and harvesting times, safe or stormy season for sailing, or time to bring the flocks from winter to summer pastures. With our millennia of such observation behind us, we sometimes forget that seeing and recording anything less obvious than the rough position of sun or nightly change of moon phase requires inventing both accurate observation tools (a stone circle, a gnomon used to indicate the sun's shadow, a means to measure the position of stars in the sky) and a system of recording that could be understood by others. The ancient Greeks struggled with these problems too, using both native technology and inquiry, and drawing upon the large body of observations and theories gradually gleaned from their older neighbors across the sea, Egypt and Babylonia. Gradually moving from a system of gods and divine powers ordering the world to a system of elements, mathematics, and physical laws, the Greeks slowly adapted old ideas to fit into a less supernatural, hyper-rational universe.
Over the years there have been many more important figures in astronomy. One extraordinary astronomer was Galileo Galilei who invented the first refractor telescope in which light is bent to enlarge an image of the sky (“Galileo Project”). The next great astronomer to follow him was Isaac Newton. Newton had made a great amount of contributions to astronomy during his life. He further proved that the Earth was not the center of the universe and he also invented the Newtonian reflector telescope which is still used today in observatories. Also, he discovered that light could be split into a visible spectrum of colors. Spectral colors from stars would later be used to determine their size, temperature, chemical composition, and even the direction the star is moving.
Where did astronomy originate? According to the Department of Astronomy, the earliest people to keep astronomical records where the Akkadians (they lived in what is later known as the northern part of Babylon). The earliest date is from around 2,500 B.C. The ancient Akkadian priests were the first to record these astronomical records. They recorded these records because it helped them predict some of the Sun’s motions, and the Earth’s moons, and the stars. These records included observations of the daily, monthly, and yearly positions of the stars and planets. These records explained the geographical locations of the planets. The records also helped with them being able to judge when to plant and harvest crops and with religious ceremonies.
Timekeeping has been an integral part of life ever since humans stepped foot on the earth. Once humans realized the difference between night and day, moon phases were used to determine months, changing seasons and record years. Soon humans realized the connection of time with the sun’s position and started using shadows to keep time thus creating the sundial, used foremost by the Egyptians and Greeks. As life become more complex, so did the need to keep time accurately. Initially, the mechanical clock was invented in 1000 AD. We then graduated to using celestial time and finally the atomic clocks were invented in 1967. These atomic clocks are so efficient that they make other methods of timekeeping seem redundant. Thus we have come a long way in timekeeping and I strongly believe that continuing to use the earth’s rotation around the sun as a method of timekeeping would mean ignoring the advances made in timekeeping over the course of history and moving further back into the past.