The Board of Longitude Project, a partnership between Cambridge University Library and the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich in the UK, has digitized the complete papers of the Board of Longitude from its founding in 1714 until its abolition in 1828. Embedded below is a playlist of five very well done videos about the project.
The Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea, popularly known as the Board of Longitude, was established following the Scilly naval disaster of 1707 which resulted in the loss of four Royal Navy warships and more than 1,400 sailors. The disaster was blamed on the inability to accurately determine longitude.
A great background read for this is Dava Sobel’s brilliant book about John Harrison who built the first successful maritime chronometer:
“Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time”
Thank you Alan Rice for pointing at this book. A fantastic story if EVER there wee and on this Thanksgiving in America 2014 Permit me to thank Rick Spilman the founder of our feast that we all awaken to THE OLD SALT BLOG!
Folks. IF YOU THINK ANY PART OF RICK’S JOB ON THIS BLOG IS NOT AN EFFORT THINK AGAIN. IT MAY BE A LABOR OF LOVE BUT NEVERTHELESS IT IS A LABOR SO thanks RICK! We will all sit in the lee of the longboat to hear your tales and breath in the smell of your whale bone pipe.
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