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Subject: lunars
From: George Huxtable (george@XXX.XXX)
Date: Tue May 21 2002 - 01:19:02 EDT
I am acutely aware that, having supplied 4 parts of a promised series
"About Lunars", and having promised a fifth, that final part has been a
long time coming, and is by now well overdue.
That final part is intended to be mainly about applying the result of a
lunar distance measurement (the resulting GMT) or, for that matter, the GMT
reading of a chronometer, to deduce the observer's longitude.
It's pleasing to be able to say that the results of valuable discussions on
this list have given me a lot to mull over and have caused more than one
revision of my plans for part 5. But I don't really have a good excuse.
Much of the delay has been due to distraction I have caused for myself,
such as the "cocked-hat" episode. Sorry about that.
So if anyone is still awaiting the winding-up of "About Lunars", do not
despair. It will come, but not sure exactly when.
I happen to have a copy of "Popular Lectures and Addresses" (1891) by Sir
William Thomson, the Scottish physicist, later Lord Kelvin of Kelvin
Compass, and Kelvin Sounding Machine, fame. What I have is just part 3, on
"Navigational Affairs". Thomson undertook to write a series on "Terrestrial
Magnetism and the Mariner's Compass" for a magazine "Good Words", and the
first part was printed in 1874. After that, five years elapsed, as Thomson
realised there was so much he needed to learn, and so much research that
ought to be done. It was not until five years later, in 1879, having in the
meantime developed the compass which became adopted by the Admiralty and
throughout the world, that Thomson felt able to complete the series in
"Good Words".
Now I have no wish to compare my own efforts with those of the great
Thomson, but I can sympathise with his problem. All I can promise is that
my series will be completed more speedily than his was.
George Huxtable.
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george@XXX.XXX
George Huxtable, 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
Tel. 01865 820222 or (int.) +44 1865 820222.
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