In SE16, we are privileged to be located so close to the greatest maritime museum in the UK: the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. They have just opened a new show Ships, Clocks and Stars celebrating the Quest for Longitude.
To mark the 300th anniversary of the passing of the Longitude Act in July 1714, this landmark exhibition tells the extraordinary story of the race to determine longitude (east-west position) at sea, helping to solve the problem of navigation and saving seafarers from terrible fates including shipwreck and starvation.
Follow the quest to solve the world’s biggest challenge and the battle for the huge rewards of up to £20,000. Explore the rivalries and ingenious inventions of some of the greatest minds of the 17th and 18th centuries including Galileo, Isaac Newton, Captain Cook and John Harrison. Centuries later, the science they developed still influences critical areas of modern life, from satnav and mobile phones to international time zones.
The exhibition runs to 4 January 2015 and entry costs £8.50 – a combined adult ticket including entry to the Royal Observatory and Longitude Punk’d exhibition. More details here.
The National Maritime Museum is part of the Royal Museums, Greenwich and is located at Romney Road, Greenwich, SE10 9NF
