Re: No Time Left for You...

White Spirit <wspirit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 13/08/2010 16:50, Bruce Morgen wrote:

It's as good a meridian as
any other. Precedents get
set, and if they serve
they endure.

If you feel that it is as good a meridian as any other then you might
wish to enquire why Greenwich prevailed. Was it because, at the time,
the British Empire encompassed around one third of the globe? Was it
because the sun never set on the Empire and our hegemony gave it precedence?

Perhaps these things had something to do with it but, if so, then
Greenwich's status as the Prime Meridian is surely a throwback to an
imperial past that has little relevance today beyond being a part of our
history. If that were the case then I might have been of the persuasion
that Rich's opinion, although inaccurate, was not so far from the truth
that it was worthy of deliberation.

On the contrary, however, there is a very good reason why Greenwich is
the Prime Meridian: it is because of the discoveries and inventions of
English astronomers and master craftsmen that resulted in the solution
of the Longitudinal Problem. Their hard work and feats of engineering
enabled accurate navigation to any point on the globe, which in turn
opened the high seas to trade at a much reduced risk than that of the
murky world of navigation that existed before this problem was solved.

Not being ones to keep things to ourselves, we naturally shared our
discoveries and, as trade and wealth increased, so the standard became
sufficiently widespread that it was, in time, the only standard, as it
is today. You can peruse any chart of land and sea or acquire a
position with GPS and your coordinates will be calculated according to
the Meridian at Greenwich just as they were all those years ago when
John Harrison's H4 chronograph made its first transatlantic voyage.

That is why Greenwich is the Prime Meridian and, I must say, I am rather
surprised that a scientist such as Rich would be so unaware of such a
monumental discovery that he could merely pass off the Greenwich
Meridian as being obsolete, as though it is hardly worthy of any note.

That's well-known history
-- it's too bad all that
British navigational and
astronomical prowess was
largely in the service of
their exploitive, often
bloody commerce-driven
imperialism and the brute
force naval domination that
enforced it, but that
doesn't negate their
achievements. Moreover,
it's damned good thing for
western civilization that
the Royal Navy was there to
check the excesses of the
likes of Bonaparte, Hitler,
& Co. Not too fond of the
bullying intimidation they
used against their American
cousins circa 1812-1814 for
the sake of kidnapping U.S.
citizens to crew that navy,
but you take the bad with
the good. :-)
.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: No Time Left for You...
    ... Precedents get ... Perhaps these things had something to do with it but, if so, then Greenwich's status as the Prime Meridian is surely a throwback to an imperial past that has little relevance today beyond being a part of our history. ... On the contrary, however, there is a very good reason why Greenwich is the Prime Meridian: it is because of the discoveries and inventions of English astronomers and master craftsmen that resulted in the solution of the Longitudinal Problem. ...
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  • Re: No Time Left for You...
    ... Precedents get ... Perhaps these things had something to do with it but, if so, then Greenwich's status as the Prime Meridian is surely a throwback to an imperial past that has little relevance today beyond being a part of our history. ... On the contrary, however, there is a very good reason why Greenwich is the Prime Meridian: it is because of the discoveries and inventions of English astronomers and master craftsmen that resulted in the solution of the Longitudinal Problem. ...
    (alt.guitar.amps)
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