Longitude - Blog Posts
The hardest part of determining longitude was figuring out how sailors could find their longitudinal coordinates at sea. There were a lot of methods proposed but adding a ship into the equation makes precision difficult. Learn about the Longitude Act of 1714 and how, even though this podcast loves astronomy, the astronomical method might not always be the best option.
Below the cut are my sources, music credits, a timeline of the astronomers and engineers and clockmakers I mention, a vocab list, a really cool resource that lets you drag continents all over a flattened map of Earth to compare their sizes at different latitudes, and the transcript of this episode. Let me know what you think I should research next by messaging me here, tweeting at me at @HDandtheVoid, or asking me to my face if you know me in real life. And please check out the podcast on iTunes, rate it or review it if you’d like, subscribe, and maybe tell your friends about it if you think they’d like to listen!
(My thoughts on the next episode were the Voyager golden records, space race history, the transit of Venus, or maybe something about the Moon landing. I’m loving Edmond Halley again these days, too. I’m prepping to interview a friend about her graduate-level research into the history of the universe and possibly dark matter, too. Let me know by the 20th and I’ll hopefully have the next podcast up on September 25th! If not then, I’ll push for October 2nd.)
Glossary
azimuth - a section of the horizon measured between a fixed point and the vertical circle passing through the center of an object. See example in the link.
equator - Earth’s zero line of latitude. It’s the place on Earth where the Sun is directly overhead at noon on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
kamal - an Arabic navigation tool consisting of a knotted string and a piece of wood. A navigator would tie a knot in the string and, by holding it in their teeth, sight the North Star along the top of the wooden piece and the horizon along the bottom. To return home, the navigator would sail north or south to bring Polaris to the altitude they had observed in their home port, then turn left or right and sail down the latitude, keeping Polaris at a constant angle. Over time, Arab navigators started tying knots at regular intervals of a fingerwidth, called an issbah, that’s about 1 degree and 36 minutes.
magnetosphere - an invisible barrier that surrounds a celestial objet. It is often generated by the movement of the liquid metal core of the object. Around a planet, it deflects high-energy, charged particles called cosmic rays that can either come from the Sun or, less often, from interstellar space.
prime meridian - Earth’s zero degree of longitude. In current maps and time zones, this invisible, imaginary line runs through London, England.
sextant - a device used to determine an observer’s location based on the observation of a known celestial object and a lot of calculation. It is still in use by sailors.
tropic of cancer - a line of latitude that marks where the Sun will be at noon on the summer solstice.
tropic of capricorn - a line of latitude that marks where the Sun will be at noon on the winter solstice.
Script/Transcript
Sources
Longitude at Sea via The Galileo Project at Rice University
Vitamin C necessity via University of Maryland Medical Center
Scurvy via NHS
Scurvy via the Encyclopedia Britannica online
An interactive map that shows how our current map distorts land masses by letting you compare different countries’ sizes.
Sobel, Dava. Longitude. Walker & Co.; New York, 1995.
“anyone living below the Equator would melt into deformity from the horrible heat” (3).
“It simply urged Parliament to welcome potential solutions from any field of science or art, put forth by individuals or groups of any nationality, and to reward success handsomely” (53).
Timeline
Claudius Ptolemy, Greek (100-170 CE)
Johannes Werner (in Latin, Ioannis Vernerus), German (1468-1522)
Tycho Brahe, Danish (1541-1601)
Galileo Galilei, Italian (1564-1642)
Giovanni Cassini (in French, Jean-Dominique Cassini), Italian/French (1625-1712)
Christiaan Huygens, Dutch (1629-1695)
Sir Isaac Newton, English (1642-1726/7)
Ole Rømer, Danish (1644-1710)
John Flamsteed, English (1646-1719)
Edmond Halley, English (1656-1742)
John Hadley, English (1682-1744)
John Harrison, English (1693-1776)
Thomas Godfrey, American (1704-1749)
John Bird, English (1709-1776)
Larcum Kendall, English (1719-1790)
James Cook, English (1728-1779)
Nevil Maskelyne, English (1732-1811)
John Arnold, English (1736-1799)
Thomas Earnshaw, English (1749-1829)
Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity
Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught