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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was Flamsteed's reaction to his maps being seized?
(a) He angrily turned them all over to Newton.
(b) He was so frustrated he gave up the quest to solve longitude.
(c) He burned most of his maps.
(d) He made incorrect copies and gave those to the British government.

2. Why was it remarkable for Harrison to build his first pendulum clock?
(a) He wasn't a watchmakers apprentice.
(b) He was an adamant believer in the astronomical solution to longitude.
(c) He came from a very poor family with no means to build a clock.
(d) His design was stolen midway through building the clock.

3. When did Harrison learn of the Longitude Prize?
(a) 1712.
(b) 1727.
(c) 1735.
(d) 1700.

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

5. How was John Harrison educated?
(a) He had no formal education.
(b) He went to Oxford.
(c) He attended elementary school in his town.
(d) He learned alongside Newton.

6. What was one disadvantage to using the magnetic variation method to determine longitude?
(a) Compasses were to large to take on ships.
(b) Compasses weren't continuously accurate.
(c) It could only be used on clear nights.
(d) It led to misalignment with the stars.

7. What did Humphrey Ditton propose to use to solve the longitude problem?
(a) Telescope.
(b) Sounds.
(c) Compass.
(d) Animals.

8. How many sailors died near the Scilly Islands?
(a) 2,000.
(b) 4,000.
(c) 1,000.
(d) 500.

9. What was Huygens best known as?
(a) The first great horologist.
(b) The first great scientist.
(c) The first great philosopher.
(d) The first great astronomer.

10. Harrison's clocks were referred to as:
(a) A technological reversal.
(b) A lump of metal.
(c) A moment in time.
(d) A magic box.

11. What does the coiled balance spring do in clocks?
(a) Allows the clock to keep a constant temperature.
(b) Allows the navigator to know the time in the home port.
(c) Prevents waves from destabilizing the clock.
(d) Prevents the pendulum from losing time.

12. What could the powder of sympathy reportedly do?
(a) Point north when mixed with water.
(b) Heal at a distance.
(c) Make one immortal.
(d) Cure scurvy.

13. What toy does the narrator play with at the beginning of Chapter 1: Imaginary Lines?
(a) A beaded wire ball.
(b) A yo-yo.
(c) A globe.
(d) A spinning top.

14. How many times was Harrison married?
(a) Twice.
(b) Never.
(c) Three times.
(d) Once.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What did King Louis build in Paris?

2. The difference between longitude and latitude is that latitude lines _____________ each other.

3. How old was Harrison when he built his first pendulum clock?

4. Where did Harrison go to present his case to the Board of Longitude?

5. Besides clocks, what was Hooke known for?

(see the answer keys)

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