Longitude Act and Board of Longitude
Ley de la Longitud y Junta de la Longitud
- Date
- 1714 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- British Parliament (backed by Newton and Halley)
- Field
- Movement
What was discovered
An act offering up to £20,000 to anyone who found a practical way to determine longitude at sea. It funded Harrison and the astronomers who developed lunar distances, and is a model of a state prize for innovation.
The wreck of Cloudesley Shovell's fleet (1707, some 1,400 dead) is the traditional trigger. Harrison never received the full prize.
What it led to
- Harrison's marine chronometer
- the method of lunar distances and the Nautical Almanac
- public innovation prizes