Article ID: CBB155594835

Mathematicians on Board: Introducing Lunar Distances to Life at Sea (2019)

unapi

Nevil Maskelyne, the Cambridge-trained mathematician and later Astronomer Royal, was appointed by the Royal Society to observe the 1761 transit of Venus from the Atlantic island of St Helena, assisted by the mathematical practitioner Robert Waddington. Both had experience of measurement and computation within astronomy and they decided to put their outward and return voyages to a further use by trying out the method of finding longitude at sea by lunar distances. The manuscript and printed records they generated in this activity are complemented by the traditional logs and journals kept by the ships’ officers. Together these records show how the mathematicians came to engage with the navigational practices that were already part of shipboard routine and how their experience affected the development of the methods that Maskelyne and Waddington would separately promote on their return. The expedition to St Helena, in particular the part played by Maskelyne, has long been regarded as pivotal to the introduction of the lunar method to British seamen and to the establishment of the Nautical Almanac. This study enriches our understanding of the episode by pointing to the significant role played by the established navigational competence among officers of the East India Company.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB155594835/

Similar Citations

Article Richard De Grijs; (2023)
Astronomical tent observatories: Relics of a bygone era (/isis/citation/CBB744892047/)

Book Igler, David; (2013)
The Great Ocean: Pacific Worlds from Captain Cook to the Gold Rush (/isis/citation/CBB001201479/)

Article Pietsch, Roland; (2013)
Hearts of Oak and Jolly Tars? Heroism and Insanity in the Georgian Navy (/isis/citation/CBB001200832/)

Article R.C. Kapoor; Wayne Orchiston; (2023)
Colonial astronomy as an element of Empire in British India (/isis/citation/CBB770458313/)

Article Anna Winterbottom; (2019)
An Experimental Community: The East India Company in London, 1600–1800 (/isis/citation/CBB821547552/)

Article Niccolò Guicciardini; (2015)
Lost in translation? Reading Newton on inverse-cube trajectories (/isis/citation/CBB293607062/)

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

Article Cervera, José Antonio; (2001)
Andrés de Urdaneta (1508--1568) y la presencia española en el Pacífico durante el siglo XVI (/isis/citation/CBB000102306/)

Chapter Holbrook, Jarita C.; (2012)
Celestial Navigation and Technological Change on Moce Island (/isis/citation/CBB001422694/)

Book Katy Barrett; (2022)
Looking for Longitude: A Cultural History (/isis/citation/CBB623076284/)

Book Starbuck, Nicole; (2013)
Baudin, Napoleon and the Exploration of Australia (/isis/citation/CBB001201503/)

Chapter Hiatt, Alfred; (2011)
Terra Australis and the Idea of Antipodes (/isis/citation/CBB001201506/)

Authors & Contributors
Boistel, Guy
Grijs, Richard de
Bassi, Ernesto
Winterbottom, Anna
Starbuck, Nicole
Reeves, Nicky
Concepts
Sea travel
Astronomy
Navigation
Travel; exploration
Longitude and latitude
Sailors
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
Renaissance
20th century, early
20th century
17th century
Places
France
Pacific Ocean
Australia
Great Britain
New Granada (Spanish colony)
Fiji
Institutions
Great Britain. Board of Longitude
East India Company (English)
Royal Society of London
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Great Britain. Royal Navy
Comments

Be the first to comment!

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

Log in or register to comment