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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the official title of the monetary award for solving the longitude problem?
(a) The Longitude Problem.
(b) The Longitude Award.
(c) The Longitude Prize.
(d) The Longitude Solution.

2. What did WIlliam Whiston contribute to the longitude debate?
(a) He proposed using animals and sound.
(b) He proposed using sound and light.
(c) He proposed using a telescope and a compass.
(d) He proposed using the moon and the stars.

3. What unusual occurrence helped in early navigation at sea?
(a) Comets.
(b) Asteroids.
(c) Storms.
(d) Solar and lunar eclipses.

4. When measuring longitude, each hour of time difference between the ship and starting point marks a progress of how many degrees of longitude?
(a) 30.
(b) 25.
(c) 5.
(d) 15.

5. Where does the quote at the beginning of Chapter 3: Adrift in a Clockwork Universe have the author dreaming he is locked in?
(a) In a hidden basement.
(b) In a ship.
(c) On the moon.
(d) In his father's watch.

Short Answer Questions

1. What advantage did the magnetic variation method have over astronomical approaches at determining longitude?

2. What did Harrison build that still function today?

3. What does the coiled balance spring do in clocks?

4. When did Harrison learn of the Longitude Prize?

5. What was the name of the Portugese ship described in Chapter 2: The Sea Before Time that ran into a Spanish fleet?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the economic consequences of not knowing longitude?

2. Who were the early players in the longitude prize described in Chapter 6: The Prize. What role did they play?

3. In Harrison's early clockmaking years, what was his goal?

4. Why is the story of Sir Clowdisley included in Chapter 2: The Sea Before Time?

5. What is the main difference, as identified in Chapter 1, between latitude and longitude?

6. In Chapter 2: The Sea Before Time, what happened to Sir Clowdisley's voyage?

7. What was the result of the Whiston-Ditton proposal?

8. Why was it unusual that John Harrison became an accomplished clockmaker?

9. What was King Charles II's role in solving the longitude problem?

10. What were the problems with William Whiston's proposal for determining longitude?

(see the answer keys)

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