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A matter of time

KAUST ·

KAUST Science History Navigation Education

Summary

Science writer Dava Sobel spoke at KAUST in 2019 about the importance of longitude and precision timekeeping for navigation. She discussed the historical difficulties in determining longitude, contrasting it with the ease of finding latitude. Sobel highlighted the Longitude Act of 1714 and figures like John Harrison who addressed these challenges. Why it matters: This lecture exposed the KAUST community to the historical context of navigation and the crucial role of timekeeping, relevant to contemporary technologies like GPS.

Keywords

KAUST · Dava Sobel · Longitude · Navigation · Timekeeping

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