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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who helped Harrison build a clock that never lost more than a second per month?
(a) His cousin, Jim.
(b) His colleague, Galileo.
(c) His brother, Arthur.
(d) His brother-in-law, James.

2. How is the fog described at the beginning of Chapter 2: The Sea Before Time?
(a) "Pea soup."
(b) "London fog."
(c) "Smokestacks.:
(d) "Dirty weather."

3. Before using clocks to navigate longitude, sailors used the __________.
(a) Currents.
(b) Sky: sun, moon, stars and constellations.
(c) Maps.
(d) Compass.

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

5. How accurate was the solution to longitude to be?
(a) Less than ten degrees.
(b) Exact, no room for error.
(c) At least five degrees.
(d) Within half a degree.

6. Where did Harrison go to present his case to the Board of Longitude?
(a) London.
(b) Edinburgh.
(c) Paris.
(d) Oxford.

7. In order for Ditton's and Whiston's plan to determine longitude to work, what would have to be done?
(a) New discoveries in compasses would need to be made.
(b) Accurate clocks would need to be on all ships.
(c) A fleet of ships would need to be anchored at 600-mile intervals in the ocean.
(d) Ship captains would need to go to "Longitude School."

8. What was the problem with pendulum clocks on ships?
(a) Pendulum clocks were so valuable, the main concern was theft.
(b) The ship's rocking would slow down or speed up the clock.
(c) There were no problems, pemdulum clocks were very accurate onboard ships.
(d) Pendulum clocks would always point north.

9. What did the Longitude Act of 1714 establish?
(a) The lunar method as the government's way to calculate longitude.
(b) Taxes on the use of maps with longitude.
(c) A monetary prize for solving the problem of longitude.
(d) A uniform way to calculate longitude.

10. How many men of the original 500 perished on Centurion's voyage to the South Pacific?
(a) 500.
(b) Half.
(c) All but two.
(d) One quarter.

11. What was one disadvantage to using the magnetic variation method to determine longitude?
(a) Compasses were to large to take on ships.
(b) It led to misalignment with the stars.
(c) Compasses weren't continuously accurate.
(d) It could only be used on clear nights.

12. How long did Harrison work before receiving his monetary reward?
(a) 10 years.
(b) 50 years.
(c) 30 years.
(d) 40 years.

13. Complete this analogy from Chapter 4:Time in a Bottle: Time is to clock as mind is to ____________.
(a) Heaven.
(b) Stars.
(c) Brain.
(d) Head.

14. Who explained the moons of Jupiter with the velocity of light?
(a) Ole Roemer.
(b) Galileo.
(c) Cassini.
(d) Tycho Brahe.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who came up with a way to draw longitude meridians on the night sky?

2. What could the powder of sympathy reportedly do?

3. After the Association ran aground and the captain's body was found, what of value was found on him?

4. What was Flamsteed's title?

5. What was the tool introduced by John Davis in 1595 to better look at the sun called?

(see the answer keys)

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