Monteiro da Rocha and the international debate in the 1760s on astronomical methods to find the longitude at sea: his proposals and criticisms to Lacaille’s lunar-distance method (2022)
Figueiredo, Fernando B. (Author)
Boistel, Guy (Author)
Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology
Volume: 79
Issue: 2
Pages: 215-258
In the 1760s, the international debate on the solution to determining longitude at sea is at its acme. Two solutions emerge, the mechanical and the astronomical ones. The Portuguese mathematician and astronomer José Monteiro da Rocha (1734–1819) is well aware of that debate. For him, Harrison’s No. 4 marine timekeeper cannot be seen as a solution. The desirable solution could only be astronomical. In a manuscript from c. 1765, which unfortunately he fails to publish, Monteiro da Rocha is very critical of Lacaille's lunar-distance method (1759) and proposes another one. In this paper, we intend to analyse Monteiro da Rocha’s criticisms and proposals, trying to understand how this manuscript fits into the international longitude debate and the Portuguese scientific scenario at the time. Concurrently, we will re-examine the classical historiography around the English vs. French priority proposal of the lunar-distance method, purging it from its mythologies to shift it towards a more open, less linear history.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Fernando B. Figueiredo;
João Fernandes;
(2020)
José Monteiro da Rocha (1734–1819) and His 1782 Work on the Determination of Comet Orbits
(/isis/citation/CBB479505423/)
Chapter
Ziller Camenietzki, Carlos;
Mendoça Pedrosa, Fábio;
(2004)
O Retorno do Cometa de 1682 e os Trabalhos da Juventude de José Monteiro da Rocha
(/isis/citation/CBB000500305/)
Article
Richard De Grijs;
(2023)
Astronomical tent observatories: Relics of a bygone era
(/isis/citation/CBB744892047/)
Article
Jim Bennett;
(2019)
Mathematicians on Board: Introducing Lunar Distances to Life at Sea
(/isis/citation/CBB155594835/)
Article
Wolfgang Köberer;
(2022)
German Contributions to Solving the Longitude Problem in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
(/isis/citation/CBB498014216/)
Book
Sellés García, Manuel A.;
(2000)
Navegación astronómica en la España del siglo XVIII
(/isis/citation/CBB000111599/)
Chapter
Sorrenson, Richard;
(1995)
The state's demand for accurate astronomical and navigational instruments in 18th-century Britain
(/isis/citation/CBB000067726/)
Chapter
González González, Francisco José;
(2011)
Astronomía y navegación en el Cádiz del siglo XVIII
(/isis/citation/CBB001221492/)
Article
Weekenstroo, Florine;
(2012)
Lalandes “Voyage de Hollande.” Het reisverslag van een astronoom, 1774
(/isis/citation/CBB001252787/)
Book
Jullien, Vincent;
(2002)
Le calcul des longitudes: Un enjeu pour les mathématiques, l'astronomie, la mesure du temps et la navigation
(/isis/citation/CBB000400013/)
Chapter
Michéa, Hubert;
(2001)
Le voyage à la mer du Sud par Amédée Frézier: routines de navigation et longitudes corrigées
(/isis/citation/CBB000101791/)
Article
Wallis, Ruth;
(2000)
Cross-currents in Astronomy and Navigation: Thomas Hornsby, FRS (1733-1810)
(/isis/citation/CBB000111601/)
Article
Marij van Strien;
(2021)
Was physics ever deterministic? The historical basis of determinism and the image of classical physics
(/isis/citation/CBB256271933/)
Article
Kelle Dhein;
(2023)
The cognitive map debate in insects: A historical perspective on what is at stake
(/isis/citation/CBB595507323/)
Article
Rüdiger Wehner;
Thierry Hoinville;
Holk Cruse;
(2023)
On the ‘cognitive map debate’ in insect navigation
(/isis/citation/CBB569805014/)
Book
Ilaria Ampollini;
(2019)
Cronaca di una cometa non annunciata. Astronomia e comunicazione della scienza nel XVIII secolo
(/isis/citation/CBB495575690/)
Article
Daniel Špelda;
(2021)
Les anciens dans l’astronomie, l’astronomie dans la querelle des anciens et des modernes
(/isis/citation/CBB984258439/)
Book
Martin, Jean-Pierre;
(2000)
Une histoire de la Méridienne: Textes, enjeux, débats et passions autour du Méridien de Paris, 1666-1827
(/isis/citation/CBB000110946/)
Article
Hanham, Andrew;
Hoskin, Michael;
(2013)
The Herschel Knighthoods: Facts and Fiction
(/isis/citation/CBB001200854/)
Article
Daniel Špelda;
(2017)
The History of Science as the Progress of the Human Spirit: The Historiography of Astronomy in the Eighteenth Century
(/isis/citation/CBB153265813/)
Be the first to comment!