IsisCB Explore

Article ID: CBB114685268

Twentieth-Century Longitude: When Greenwich Moved (2019)

Kershaw, Michael (Author)

Journal for the History of Astronomy
Volume: 50
Issue: 2
Pages: 221-248

URI: https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/doi/full/10.1177/0021828619848180

DOI: 10.1177/0021828619848180

Outside Links

WorldCat

Google Scholar

JSTOR

Academia.edu

Geography Measurement Exactness; precision; accuracy Longitude and latitude 20th century, early Greenwich (England) Royal Observatory Greenwich

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the meridian passing though the Royal Observatory at Greenwich had become a near-universal reference for place and time. It was the zero of longitude. But our current standard of zero longitude is about 100 metres away from the original. That mobility needs historical context: Greenwich began to move in the years after the First World War, when wireless techniques for the astronomical determination of longitude and the standardisation of time were developed, and has carried on moving ever since. In this article, I describe how twentieth-century techniques for the determination of longitude not only brought improved precision but also led to fundamental changes in our long-standing conventions of longitude. And I show how – despite its mobility – our current standard of zero longitude continues to respect the original.

...More

Citation URI

https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB114685268/

Citations Indexes

Similar Citations

Article Kershaw, Michael; (2014)
“A thorn in the side of European geodesy”: Measuring Paris-Greenwich Longitude by Electric Telegraph (/isis/citation/CBB001202239/)

Book McConnell, Anita; Martin, Jean-Pierre; Débarbat, Suzanne; (2013)
Méridien, méridienne: textes, enjeux, débats et passions autour des méridiens de Paris et de Greenwich (1783--2000) (/isis/citation/CBB001214469/)

Article Lamy, Jérôme; (2006)
Le problème des longitudes en mer dans les traités d'hydrographie des Jésuites aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles: Choix méthodologiques et pratiques instrumentales (/isis/citation/CBB000931359/)

Article Despoix, Philippe; (2000)
Mesure du monde et représentation européenne au XVIIIe siècle: Le programme britannique de détermination de la longitude en mer (/isis/citation/CBB000111470/)

Article Shcheglov, Dmitriy A.; (2005)
Hipparchus on the Latitude of Southern India (/isis/citation/CBB000660067/)

Article H. Otto Sibum; (2020)
When is enough enough? Accurate measurement and the integrity of scientific research (/isis/citation/CBB773125013/)

Article Schiavon, Martina; (2006)
Les officiers géodésiens du Service géographique de l'armée et la mesure de l'arc de méridien de Quito (1901--1906) (/isis/citation/CBB000931358/)

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 Martin, Jean-Pierre; McConnell, Anita; (2008)
Joining the Observatories of Paris and Greenwich (/isis/citation/CBB000930238/)

Article Boistel, Guy; (2006)
De quelle précision a-t-on réellement besoin en mer ? Quelques aspects de la diffusion des méthodes de détermination astronomique et chronométrique des longitudes en mer en France, de Lacaille à Mouchez (1750--1880) (/isis/citation/CBB000931360/)

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/)

Article Madueira, Nuno Luis; (2006)
Las ciencias de observación en Portugal (/isis/citation/CBB000930265/)

Article Graber, Frédéric; (2006)
Le nivellement, une mesure pour l'action autour de 1800 (/isis/citation/CBB000931357/)

Article Simon Schaffer; (2022)
Orientations and Disorientations in the History of Science How Measures Made a Difference at the Imperial Meridian (/isis/citation/CBB969514447/)

Article Thébaud-Sorger, Marie; (2006)
La mesure de l'envol à la fin du XVIIIe siècle: Les premiers ballons: affaires d'opinions ou d'exactitude ? (/isis/citation/CBB000931353/)

Article Benschop, Ruth; Draaisma, Douwe; (2000)
In Pursuit of Precision: The Calibration of Minds and Machines in Late Nineteenth-century Psychology (/isis/citation/CBB000111759/)

Article Kuleff, I.; (2011)
50th Anniversary of the International System of Units, SI (/isis/citation/CBB001024775/)

Article Steele, J. M.; (2007)
Celestial Measurement in Babylonian Astronomy (/isis/citation/CBB000772410/)

Book Guedj, Denis; (2001)
The Measure of the World: A Novel (/isis/citation/CBB000102624/)

Article Jiajing Zhang; (2022)
The Art of Compromise: New Maps in Local Gazetteers of the Late Qing Dynasty (/isis/citation/CBB503352047/)

Comments

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