Essential Information
| Location |
Royal Observatory
|
|---|---|
14 Sep 2011
Hale's story is told as if found in the papers of a Captain Frederic Ingham, and describes the construction and accidental launch of an artificial moon - funnily enough, made of bricks. The longitude bit comes right at the start, when he describes why the brick moon was built. It all began, we learn, back at college 30 years earlier:
'We came across this business of the longitude, and, as we talked, in the gloom and glamour of the old South Middle dining-hall, we had going the usual number of students' stories about rewards offered by the Board of Longitude for discoveries in that matter, - stories, all of which, so far as I know, are lies. Like all boys, we had tried our hands at perpetual motion. For me, I was sure I could square the circle, if they would give me chalk enough. But as to this business of the longitude it was reserved for Q. [Ingham's brother] to make the happy hit and to explain it to the rest of us.'
The scheme Q. proposes is that they will launch artificial moons into orbits matching the meridians of Greenwich and New Orleans, allowing mariners to determine their longitude by measuring the apparent height of these satellites (and this is said to be the first fictional description of an artificial satellite). It's sort of similar to finding latitude from the pole star, but a bit full of holes as an idea.
Of course, this is all just an excuse to, launch a group of people into space, in this case by accident. Read the story if you want to know more, though suffice to say it has a heavily moral overtone. But what interested me was finding a specific reference to the Board over 40 years after its demise.
Look forward to more chance finds in future blogs (occasionally).