M&D Deep Duck Read. On science.

[Dave Monroe]

Mason's early career was spent at the Royal Greenwich Observatory near
London. He served as assistant astronomer from 1756 to 1760 under the
Reverend James Bradley, the Astronomer Royal.

While employed at the Greenwich Observatory, Mason became familiar
with Professor Tobias Mayer’s Tables of the Moon. The Lunar Tableswere
designed to solve the problem of determining longitude at sea, a
challenge that frustrated scientists and navigators for decades. Mason
worked throughout his life to perfect the Lunar Tables as a method of
improving navigation at sea. In 1787, Mason was awarded £750 by the
Board of Longitude for his work on perfecting the Tables.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Mason#Early_career

After completing the boundary survey in America, Mason returned to
Greenwich where he continued work on Mayer's Lunar Tables. He also
contributed to the Nautical Almanac, working under Nevil Maskelyne,
Astronomer Royal.

On September 27, 1786, Mason wrote to Benjamin Franklin claiming to
have returned to Philadelphia with his wife, seven sons, and one
daughter. Mason was very ill and confined to his bed. Mason also
shared with Franklin the design for an astronomical project. Mason
provided no explanation for his return to America, and nothing more is
known of Mason's proposed project.

Mason died on October 26, 1786, in Philadelphia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Mason#Career_after_the_Mason.E2.80.93Dixon_line_survey

Jeremiah Dixon FRS (27 July 1733 – 22 January 1779)[1] was an English
surveyor and [amateur] astronomer who is best known for his work with
Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called
the Mason-Dixon line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Dixon

On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 5:27 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ongoing baseline concept--hat tip to a longtime Plister--Mason & Dixon
> are 'scientists' within their time, right? Or at least technologists?
> What was status of such?
>
> The pages from this book show how mathematics was taught to many young
> Englishmen so they could navigate at sea but how surveying became
> steadily popular to measure estates. Mathematics and astronomy
> skillls. Accuracy, that necessary condition of science. The not-magic.
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=urKT4s0qP88C&pg=PA162&dq=surveying+%2B+18th+Century&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zrKWVJHGE-6LsQSKtYCIAg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=surveying%20%2B%2018th%20Century&f=false
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l