MDMD(2): Notes and Questions

[David Casseres]

I wrote

>> When I read _Longitude_ it struck me as the struggle between Science and 
>> Technology, as we now call them....

Andrew sez

>*One* of the oppositions, certainly. But what about e.g. the
>opposition between an aristocratic society and a meritocratic one?

That too, certainly.  Actually I think today's tension between "pure 
science" and technology still contains a great deal of that opposition, 
which is now expressed in terms of "academic" and "industrial" endeavors 
but is really about funding.  Yet Mason & Dixon, were by no means 
aristocratic, nor were the early Astronomers Royal as I recall.  The AR's 
were gentry, of course, and ranked well above Harrison and the other 
watchmakers.

>... And also perhaps the opposition between Faith and
>Reason. Reason should suggest that Harrison's chronometer was an
>adequate solution, but faith in Divine Purpose suggested that there
>was an `exact' solution to be found in the stars, should we only be
>able to unravel it...

That hadn't occurred to me but it certainly fits into the picture.  Such 
an exact solution would have been seen by many as a vindication of the 
astrological tradition, as well.  I would love to know just how long the 
overlap lasted, in educated circles, between the continued acceptance of 
astrology and the emerging rationalism of astronomy.


Cheers,
David