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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3: Adrift in a Clockwork Universe.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did King Louis XIV of France complain about with more accurate measures of longitude?
(a) That the economic costs of not knowing longitude were bankrupting his country.
(b) That he was losing more territory to his astronomers than his enemies.
(c) That sea travel became more treacherous.
(d) That maps based on stars were inaccurate.

2. The difference between longitude and latitude is that latitude lines _____________ each other.
(a) Converge with.
(b) Parallel.
(c) Bisect.
(d) Intersect.

3. What was Giovanni Domenico Cassini famous for?
(a) Inventing the pendulum clock.
(b) Sailing around the world.
(c) Discovering the moons of Jupiter.
(d) Publishing accurate maps.

4. When the Centurion set sail for the South Pacific, what did they not take with them?
(a) Smith's map.
(b) Harrison's clock.
(c) A compass.
(d) Medication to ward off scurvy.

5. What disease afflicted many sailors at sea for long periods of time?
(a) Scurvy.
(b) Typhoid fever.
(c) Malaria.
(d) Hepatitis.

Short Answer Questions

1. What could have avoided the tragedy near the Scilly Islands?

2. What does the term "dead reckoning" refer to?

3. What did the Longitude Act of 1714 establish?

4. Harrison's clocks were referred to as:

5. What was Harrison's most prized accomplishment?

(see the answer key)

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