IsisCB Explore

Article ID: CBB000931917

Gregory's Meridian Line of 1673--74: A St. Andrews Detective Story (2008)

Amson, John Ceres (Author)

British Society for the History of Mathematics Bulletin
Volume: 23
Pages: 58--72

Outside Links

WorldCat

Google Scholar

JSTOR

Academia.edu

Astronomy Longitude and latitude Astronomical observatories Scientific apparatus and instruments Meridians (geodesy) 17th century Gregory, James University of St. Andrews

In 1668, James Gregory arrived in St Andrews University following his two-year sojourn at Padua University. He planned to create the first purpose-built astronomical observatory in Britain to take celestial measurements to a new level of accuracy superior to anything else in Europe. In 1673 he had assembled an enviable collection of astronomical instruments and time-keepers of unusually high quality and precision. By the following year he had converted the upper floor of the Old Library into his observatory and constructed the first ever non-ecclesiastical astronomical meridian line in Europe, the longest and most accurate of its kind for many years to come. Recent site surveys and computations by the author show that 'Gregory's pillar', the south mark for his meridian line, is less than 1 metre to the side of the terrestrial geodetic meridian through the telescope bracket in the window of Upper Parliament Hall 2.4 kilometres to the north. What technical methods did Gregory use to achieve what he did? What depths of academic prejudice destroyed his hopes? The author outlines the little that is known and takes the first steps towards unravelling a three-centuries old mystery.

...More

Associated with

Article Gray, Shirley B. (2009) A Detective Story Continued. British Society for the History of Mathematics Bulletin (p. 180). unapi

Citation URI

https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000931917/

Citations Indexes

Similar Citations

Article Rawson, Helen C.; (2015)
James Gregory, the University Observatory and the Early Acquisition of Scientific Instruments at the University of St. Andrews (/isis/citation/CBB001552645/)

Article Batten, Alan H.; (2014)
The Beginnings of Modern Astronomy at the University of St Andrews (/isis/citation/CBB001214535/)

Article Spiegel, Richard J.; (2015)
John Flamsteed and the Turn of the Screw: Mechanical Uncertainty, the Skilful Astronomer and the Burden of Seeing Correctly at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich (/isis/citation/CBB001202244/)

Article James Lequeux; (2020)
Geodetic arcs, pendulums and the shape of the Earth (/isis/citation/CBB886876626/)

Book Zuidervaart, Huib J.; (2007)
Telescopes from Leiden Observatory and Other Collections, 1656--1859: A Descriptive Catalogue (/isis/citation/CBB001021804/)

Book Higgitt, Rebekah; (2014)
Maskelyne: Astronomer Royal (/isis/citation/CBB001422549/)

Article Schrimpf, Andreas; (2014)
The First Measurement of the Deflection of the Vertical in Longitude (/isis/citation/CBB001451855/)

Article Schaffer, Simon; (2014)
Swedenborg's Lunars (/isis/citation/CBB001320980/)

Article Rieznik, Marina; (2010)
El Bureau des Longitudes y la fundación del Observatorio de La Plata en la Argentina (1882--1890) (/isis/citation/CBB001420468/)

Article Schrimpf, Andreas; (2014)
The First Measurement of the Deflection of the Vertical in Longitude (/isis/citation/CBB001421698/)

Article Simpson, A.D.C.; (1992)
James Gregory and the reflecting telescope (/isis/citation/CBB000048797/)

Article Daniel Belteki; (2021)
At the ends of the line: How the Airy Transit Circle was gradually overshadowed by the Greenwich Prime Meridian (/isis/citation/CBB299311935/)

Chapter Paolo Brenni; (2017)
Big Is Beautiful: A Few Considerations About the Making of the Large 19th Century Refractors (/isis/citation/CBB146634870/)

Article Bourtembourg, René; (2012)
Messier's Missed Discovery of Pallas in April 1779 (/isis/citation/CBB001232489/)

Article Hoskin, Michael; (2011)
William Herschel and Herschelian Reflectors (/isis/citation/CBB001023542/)

Book Bobis, Laurence; Lequeux, James; (2012)
L'Observatoire de Paris: 350 ans de science (/isis/citation/CBB001214540/)

Article Latusseck, Arndt; (2008)
William Herschel's Fifty-two Fields of Extensive Diffuse Nebulosity: A Revision (/isis/citation/CBB001034784/)

Book Gillespie, Richard; (2011)
The Great Melbourne Telescope (/isis/citation/CBB001250823/)

Article Suzanne Débarbat; (2019)
Picard, La Hire et le Royaume de Louis XIV (/isis/citation/CBB248232410/)

Chapter Chareix, Fabien; (2002)
Vaincre la houle: les horloges marines de Christiaan Huygens (/isis/citation/CBB000470750/)

Comments

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}