Longitude
In Our Time13 Mai 2021

Longitude

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the search for Longitude while at sea. Following efforts by other maritime nations, the British Government passed the Longitude Act in 1714 to reward anyone who devised reliable means for ships to determine their longitude at sea. Mariners could already calculate how far they were north or south, the Latitude, using the Pole Star, but voyaging across the Atlantic to the Caribbean was much less predictable as navigators could not be sure how far east or west they were, a particular problem when heading for islands. It took fifty years of individual genius and collaboration in Britain and across Europe, among astronomers, clock makers, mathematicians and sailors, for the problem to be resolved.

With

Rebekah Higgitt Principal Curator of Science at National Museums Scotland

Jim Bennett Keeper Emeritus at the Science Museum

And

Simon Schaffer Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Episoder(1087)

Work in the 20th Century

Work in the 20th Century

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the changing nature of work practices and the work ethic as it pertains at the end of the 20th century. Has our understanding of the nature and function of work really ...

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The Brain and Consciousness

The Brain and Consciousness

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how our increased knowledge of the functioning of the brain and the mechanisms of memory in the 20th century has changed our feelings about our own natures, and our app...

19 Nov 199827min

The City in the 20th Century

The City in the 20th Century

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the artistic, cultural and innovative developments of the city in the 20th century and is joined by two practitioners of the geographer’s art; Professor Doreen Massey, ...

12 Nov 199828min

Science in the 20th century

Science in the 20th century

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how perceptions of science and the power of science have changed in the 20th century. Does scientific endeavour increasingly concern itself with doubt rather than certa...

5 Nov 199828min

Science's Revelations

Science's Revelations

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss whether the mass of scientific understanding and knowledge we have accumulated has destroyed our sense of poetic wonder at the world. Has our sense of awe at how the wo...

29 Okt 199828min

Politics in the 20th Century

Politics in the 20th Century

Melvyn Bragg talks to Gore Vidal and Alan Clarke about the future of the nation-state; is the concept dead and buried? And what is the relationship between politics and morality - have salaciousness ...

22 Okt 199828min

War in the 20th Century

War in the 20th Century

In the first programme of a new series examining ideas and events which have shaped thinking in philosophy, religion, science and the arts, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss warfare and human rights in ...

15 Okt 199827min

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