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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What did WIlliam Whiston contribute to the longitude debate?
(a) He proposed using sound and light.
(b) He proposed using the moon and the stars.
(c) He proposed using animals and sound.
(d) He proposed using a telescope and a compass.

3. What unusual occurrence helped in early navigation at sea?
(a) Comets.
(b) Solar and lunar eclipses.
(c) Asteroids.
(d) Storms.

4. 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) Wind.
(b) Temperature.
(c) Rocking of the boat.
(d) Speed of the boat.

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

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

7. What year was Harrison born?
(a) 1650.
(b) 1727.
(c) 1693.
(d) 1715.

8. Who used the moons of Jupiter to solve the longitude problem?
(a) Newton.
(b) Ptolomy.
(c) Galileo.
(d) Commodore Anson.

9. Thirty miles is how many degrees of longitude?
(a) Eight degrees.
(b) Half a degree.
(c) Five degrees.
(d) Ten degrees.

10. What was Flamsteed's title?
(a) "Celestial navigator."
(b) "Astronomical observator."
(c) "King of naval longitude."
(d) "French stars master."

11. The Parliamentary committee assembled to respond to the problem of longitude relied on which two experts?
(a) Ptolomy and Jupiter.
(b) Whiston and Ditton.
(c) Flamsteed and Thacker.
(d) Newton and Halley.

12. Who won the Hooke/Huygens conflict?
(a) Hugyens.
(b) Neither.
(c) Hooke.
(d) Both.

13. When was the magnetic compass invented?
(a) 15th century.
(b) 10th century.
(c) 17th century.
(d) 12th century.

14. Which of the following was NOT an early player in the quest for the longitude prize?
(a) Flamsteed.
(b) Halley.
(c) Newton.
(d) Galileo.

15. Where was the destination the Centurion was sailing for?
(a) Tierra del Feugo.
(b) Scilly Islands.
(c) Juan Fernandez Island.
(d) Cape Noir.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who developed the "lunar distance method" to longitude?

2. Why was it remarkable for Harrison to build his first pendulum clock?

3. What did King Louis XIV of France complain about with more accurate measures of longitude?

4. What could the powder of sympathy reportedly do?

5. What did Huygen's published argument state?

(see the answer keys)

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