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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the main difference in measuring longitude and latitude?
(a) Latitude is measured in degrees and longitude is not.
(b) Longitude is measured by the sun.
(c) Latitude is measured by time.
(d) Longitude is measured by time.

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

3. What advantage did the magnetic variation method have over astronomical approaches at determining longitude?
(a) It didn't rely on wouding animals.
(b) It utilized new technology in clockmaking.
(c) It did not depend on knowing the time at two places at once.
(d) Longitude could now be charted on a map.

4. What did King Louis build in Paris?
(a) A telescope.
(b) The Eifel Tower.
(c) Notre Dame.
(d) An astronomical obersvatory.

5. What does the term "dead reckoning" refer to?
(a) An early way to navigate at sea using the position of stars and the moon.
(b) A primitive way to navigate at sea using estimates from a fixed point.
(c) An advanced way to determine longitude using clocks.
(d) A way to verify the number of sailors lost at sea.

6. Hooke nor Huygens were able to:
(a) Get the Royal Society to declare a winner.
(b) Produce a clock that worked at sea.
(c) Collect on the monetary prize offered for solving the problem of longitude.
(d) Collaborate on a working clock.

7. Early clocks weren't up to measuring longitude at sea for two reasons. They were not accurate and changed because of what while at sea?
(a) Speed of the boat.
(b) Rocking of the boat.
(c) Wind.
(d) Temperature.

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

9. What was one benefit of the Whiston-Ditton proposal?
(a) Whiston and Ditton each became rich off of their proposal.
(b) It led to the monetary award for a solution to the longitude problem.
(c) It was a reliable method of determining longitude.
(d) It led to glory for England for being the first to solve the problem of longitude.

10. When did clock makers begin to design clocks to measure longitude?
(a) 15th century.
(b) 16th century.
(c) 14th century.
(d) 17th century.

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

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

13. In the Whiston-Ditton proposal, what did they hope to be exempt from?
(a) Espionage.
(b) Acts of piracy.
(c) Taxes.
(d) War.

14. Before using clocks to navigate longitude, sailors used the __________.
(a) Compass.
(b) Sky: sun, moon, stars and constellations.
(c) Maps.
(d) Currents.

15. How many men of the original 500 perished on Centurion's voyage to the South Pacific?
(a) One quarter.
(b) 500.
(c) All but two.
(d) Half.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who explained the moons of Jupiter with the velocity of light?

2. What was built at Greenwich Park?

3. Who was in command of the ships that ran into the Scilly Islands near England?

4. Who helped Harrison build a clock that never lost more than a second per month?

5. What was the problem with pendulum clocks on ships?

(see the answer keys)

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