Lecture on the Marine Chronometer, the key to finding longitude
As part of our Clocktoberfest celebration in Berea, Ohio, we are partnering with Baldwin Wallace University in presenting a special open house at the Burrell Memorial Observatory on Friday August 9, 2013 at 6:30. Dr. Edwin Meyer presents a lecture on The Marine Chronometer, The Key to Finding Longitude. The technological progress of humanity has come with a concomitant necessity for a more precise method to measure the passage of time. This was apparent when maritime travel for conquest, trade and exploration required a method to accurately determine the position of a ship at sea. A ship's latitude could be determined by the angle of the noonday sun, but the determination of a ship's longitude turned out to be the biggest technological challenge of the 18th Century. There were two paths to this achievement - navigation by the heavens and navigations by accurately measuring time. Dr. Meyer will tell the story of this race for the determination of longitude on the high s...