The century and a half search by the British authorities–from the founding of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich to the dissolution of the Board of Longitude–to find a method to determine longitude at sea.

Back in 2010 the University of Cambridge and the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich launched a six year research programme, led by Simon Schaffer for Cambridge and Richard Dunn and Rebekah Higgitt for Greenwich: ‘The Board of Longitude 1714–1828: Science, Innovation and Empire in the Georgian World.’ “Its aim was to produce the first comprehensive history of the British Board of Longitude, examining its changing role as an influential player in Georgian culture.” Participants were the postdoctoral researchers Alexi Baker and Nicky Reeves, doctoral students Katy Barrett, Eóin Phillips and Sofie Waring, and Engagement Officer Katherine McAlpine. During its run the team produced, in what might be termed the golden age of history of science blogs, a truly excellent blog reporting on all aspects of their work and progress. As well as three doctoral theses, two unpublished, and quite a few academic papers the research project generated several monographs. Richard Dunn, Navigational…