M&D/GR intersection (minor M&D spoiler)

[Peter Petto]

William Karlin wrote that he noticed another character in M&D that makes
somewhat of an appearance in GR....the astronomer Maskelyne.

Reverend Nevil Maskelyne was the fifth astronomer royal, who strongly
promoted the lunar distance method for determining longitude against John
Harrison's method that compared an accurate clock with Greenwich time to
local noon. He published _Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris_ in
1766, updating until his death.

All of this, particularly his battle against Harrison, is the subject of
Dava Sobel's recent book _Longitude_. (which I read last week at the
recommendation of someone here)



Peter Petto         |       ppetto at apk.net
Bay Village, Ohio   |   PGP public key available