Longitude prize
Encyclopedia
The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British
government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude
. The prize, established through an Act of Parliament (the Longitude Act) in 1714, was administered by the Board of Longitude
.
Determining latitude
was relatively easy in that it could be found from the altitude of the sun at noon with the aid of a table giving the sun's declination for the day. For longitude, early ocean navigators had to rely on dead reckoning
. This was inaccurate on long voyages out of sight of land and these voyages sometimes ended in tragedy. Finding an adequate solution to determining longitude was of paramount importance.
For details on many of the efforts towards determining the longitude, see History of longitude
.
In addition, the Board had the discretion to make awards to persons who were making significant contributions to the effort or to provide ongoing financial support to those who were working productively towards the solution. The Board could also make advances of up to £2,000 for experimental work deemed promising.
As a result of the disputes and changes in the rules (legislated or otherwise) for the prize, no one was deemed qualified for any of the official prizes. None of the major prizes were ever awarded.
Harrison also received £8,750 from Parliament in thanks for his work, bringing his total lifetime award to £23,065.
Dava Sobel
's 1996 bestseller Longitude
(ISBN 0-14-025879-5) recounts Harrison's story. A film adaptation of Longitude
was released by Granada Productions
and A&E
in 2000, starring Michael Gambon
as Harrison and Jeremy Irons
as Rupert Gould
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
. The prize, established through an Act of Parliament (the Longitude Act) in 1714, was administered by the Board of Longitude
Board of Longitude
The Board of Longitude was the popular name for the Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea. It was a British Government body formed in 1714 to administer a scheme of prizes intended to encourage innovators to solve the problem of finding longitude at sea.-Origins:Navigators and...
.
The problem of longitude
The measurement of longitude was a problem that came into sharp focus as people began making transoceanic voyages.Determining latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
was relatively easy in that it could be found from the altitude of the sun at noon with the aid of a table giving the sun's declination for the day. For longitude, early ocean navigators had to rely on dead reckoning
Dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course...
. This was inaccurate on long voyages out of sight of land and these voyages sometimes ended in tragedy. Finding an adequate solution to determining longitude was of paramount importance.
For details on many of the efforts towards determining the longitude, see History of longitude
History of longitude
The history of longitude is a record of the effort, by navigators and scientists over several centuries, to discover a means of determining longitude....
.
Prizes offered
The main longitude prizes were:- £10,000 for a method that could determine longitude within 60 nautical mileNautical mileThe nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...
s (111 km) - £15,000 for a method that could determine longitude within 40 nautical miles (74 km)
- £20,000 for a method that could determine longitude within 30 nautical miles (56 km).
In addition, the Board had the discretion to make awards to persons who were making significant contributions to the effort or to provide ongoing financial support to those who were working productively towards the solution. The Board could also make advances of up to £2,000 for experimental work deemed promising.
As a result of the disputes and changes in the rules (legislated or otherwise) for the prize, no one was deemed qualified for any of the official prizes. None of the major prizes were ever awarded.
Significant recipients
Many persons benefited from the awards offered by the Board. In total, over £100,000 was given in the form of encouragements and awards. Significant among these are:| Name | Amount | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| John Harrison John Harrison John Harrison was a self-educated English clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age... |
£14,315 | Received in several payments. £4,315 was awarded during his work on his chronometers Marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation... from 1737 to 1764 with the remaining £10,000 provided in 1765. |
| Tobias Mayer Tobias Mayer Tobias Mayer was a German astronomer famous for his studies of the Moon.He was born at Marbach, in Württemberg, and brought up at Esslingen in poor circumstances. A self-taught mathematician, he had already published two original geometrical works when, in 1746, he entered J.B. Homann's... |
£3,000 | Contributions to the lunar distance method. His widow received the money due to Mayer's untimely death. |
| Thomas Mudge Thomas Mudge (horologist) Thomas Mudge was an English horologist who invented the lever escapement, the greatest single improvement ever applied to pocket watches.-Early life:... |
£3,000 | Construction of chronometers Marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation... with improvements to Harrison's designs. |
| John Arnold John Arnold John Arnold was an English watchmaker and inventor.John Arnold was the first to design a watch that was both practical and accurate, and also brought the term "Chronometer" in to use in its modern sense, meaning a precision timekeeper... |
£3,000 | Design and improvements to chronometers Marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation... . |
| Thomas Earnshaw Thomas Earnshaw Thomas Earnshaw was an English watchmaker who following John Arnold's earlier work, further simplified the process of marine chronometer production, making them available to the general public... |
£3,000 | Design and improvements to chronometers Marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation... . |
| Charles Mason Charles Mason Charles Mason was an English astronomer who made significant contributions to 18th-century science and American history, particularly through his involvement with the survey of the Mason-Dixon line, which came to mark the division between the northern and southern United States... |
£1,317 | Various contributions and improvements on Mayer’s lunar tables. |
| Jesse Ramsden Jesse Ramsden Jesse Ramsden FRSE was an English astronomical and scientific instrument maker.Ramsden was born at Salterhebble, Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. After serving his apprenticeship with a cloth-worker in Halifax, he went in 1755 to London, where in 1758 he was apprenticed to a... |
£615 | Design and construction of a superior dividing engine Dividing engine A dividing engine is a device specifically employed to mark graduations on measuring instruments.-History:There has always been a need for accurate measuring instruments... (£300) and publishing the design (£315). |
| Larcum Kendall Larcum Kendall Larcum Kendall was a British watchmaker.-Commission:The Board of Longitude asked Kendall to copy and develop John Harrison's ingenious fourth model of a clock useful for navigation at sea... |
£500 | Construction of a copy of Harrison's H-4. |
| Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion... |
£300 | Contributions to the lunar distance method in aid of Mayer. |
| Nathaniel Davies | £300 | Design of a Lunars telescope for Mayer |
Harrison also received £8,750 from Parliament in thanks for his work, bringing his total lifetime award to £23,065.
In culture
Rupert T. Gould's 1923 "The Marine Chronometer" (ISBN 0907462057) is the definitive reference work on the Marine Chronometer. It covers the chronometer's history from the earliest attempts to measure longitude while including detailed discussions and illustrations of the various mechanisms and their inventors.Dava Sobel
Dava Sobel
Dava Sobel is a writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and Binghamton University...
's 1996 bestseller Longitude
Longitude (book)
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time is a best-selling book by Dava Sobel about John Harrison, an 18th century clockmaker who created the first clock sufficiently accurate to be used to determine longitude at sea—an important development...
(ISBN 0-14-025879-5) recounts Harrison's story. A film adaptation of Longitude
Longitude (TV serial)
Longitude is a 2000 TV drama produced by Granada Productions and the A&E Network for Channel 4, first broadcast in 2000 in the UK on Channel 4 and the US on A&E. It is an adaptation of the 1997 book of the same title by Dava Sobel...
was released by Granada Productions
Granada Productions
Granada Productions was a British commercial television production and distribution company. The company took its name from the successful ITV franchise, Granada Television....
and A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
in 2000, starring Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
as Harrison and Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
as Rupert Gould
Rupert Gould
Rupert Thomas Gould , was a Lieutenant Commander in the British Royal Navy noted for his contributions to horology .-Life:...
.
See also
- History of longitudeHistory of longitudeThe history of longitude is a record of the effort, by navigators and scientists over several centuries, to discover a means of determining longitude....
- Nevil MaskelyneNevil MaskelyneThe Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne FRS was the fifth English Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811.-Biography:...
- Lunar distanceLunar distance (navigation)In celestial navigation, lunar distance is the angle between the Moon and another celestial body. A navigator can use a lunar distance and a nautical almanac to calculate Greenwich time...
- Inducement prize contestInducement prize contestAn inducement prize contest is a competition that awards a cash prize for the accomplishment of a feat, usually of engineering. IPCs are typically designed to extend the limits of human ability...
- John HarrisonJohn HarrisonJohn Harrison was a self-educated English clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age...
- Larcum KendallLarcum KendallLarcum Kendall was a British watchmaker.-Commission:The Board of Longitude asked Kendall to copy and develop John Harrison's ingenious fourth model of a clock useful for navigation at sea...
- James CookJames CookCaptain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
- CelatoneCelatoneA device invented by Galileo Galilei to observe Jupiter's moons with the purpose of finding longitude on Earth. It took the form of a piece of headgear with a telescope taking the place of an eyehole.- External Links :*...
- Powder of sympathyPowder of SympathyPowder of sympathy was a form of sympathetic magic, current in 17th century in Europe, whereby a remedy was applied to the weapon that had caused a wound in the hope of healing the injury it had made. The method was first proposed by Rudolf Goclenius, Jr. and was later expanded upon by Sir Kenelm...
- Philip III of SpainPhilip III of SpainPhilip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...
longitude prize - Rømer's determination of the speed of lightRømer's determination of the speed of lightRømer's determination of the speed of light was the demonstration in 1676 that light has a finite speed, and so doesn't travel instantaneously. The discovery is usually attributed to Danish astronomer Ole Rømer ,There are several alternative spellings of Rømer's surname: Roemer, Rœmer, Römer etc....
Longitude