British Literature Survey
Reference Pages: Intellectual Disability Group

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich
by Turtle Harrison

Previously referred to as the Royal Greenwich Observatory, the centre was founded in 1675 for the sole purpose of aiding nautical navigation. Being the oldest scientific institution in Great Britain, it has seen many changes through its history of over three-hundred and thirty (330) years. Moving many times, The Royal Observatory of Greenwich remains a staple part of British history and culture, now in it original position in Royal Park in Greenwich, London overlooking the River Thames.

In 1884, The International Meridian Conference met in Washington, DC to decide the location for the planet’s Longitude 0°. In a vote of twenty-two to one (22-1), Greenwich was made the point of Earth’s Prime Meridian, soon to be called the Greenwich Meridian. The Prime Meridian runs through the centre of the building appropriately named “The Meridian Building,” housing the “Transit Circle” telescope whose cross-hairs in the eyepiece mark the exact line. Also, in the same set of meetings, the observatory was voted to house the exact standard time of the world, called the Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT, that brings in each new day, year, etc.

Many important discoveries have been made in the observatory; many of which occurred around the turn of the Twentieth Century (20th Century.) During Late-Victorian England, the institution found that stars were different colours, yielding different temperatures and ages. Also, new, more powerful lenses were put into place in 1894, which only gave way to more accurate measurements of distance and sizes.

Works Cited

Forbes, Eric G. Greenwich Observatory, Vol 1: Origins and History (1675-1835). Taylor & Francis: London, England. 1975.

Howse, Derek. Greenwich Observatory, Vol 3: The Buildings and Instruments. Taylor & Francis: London, England. 1975.

Jones, Sir Harold Spencer. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Longmans Green & Company, Ltd.: London, England. 1944.

Meadows, A. J. Greenwich Observatory, Vol 2: Recent History (1836-1975). Taylor & Francis: London, England. 1975.

The History of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 2005. The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. 29 January 2006. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server.php?show=conWebDoc.13496&navId=005000002

Paul Marchbanks
marchban@email.unc.edu