Thanks for the site.

It's simple to figure latitude (the fist of an outstretched arm subtends about 10 degrees of arc), but longitude requires time (unless one is using a GPS). If the earth were not tilted on it's axis of rotation (with respect to the revolution about the sun), days would be of the same length, and longitude would also be simple to measure. Probably most people know this.


David Landes in [u] The Wealth and Poverty of Nations [/u] discusses the origins of attitudes towards time and the consequences those attitudes had on technological and economic development. History usually isn't something I find interesting, but I quite like this book (which I'm currently reading). I like it when someone draws sufficient dots that, after I connect them, I can discern some pattern other than a collection of randomly connected dots. (Some people can look at television snow and see messages from aliens or instructions from God.) The book is not "about" time, but time is a theme that is woven into the context of world economic history.


There should be more detail on the specific relationship between time and longitude in a book called "Longitude" by Dava Sobel." It's on my list, but I haven't gotten to it yet. The reviews I've read say it's pretty good and also short (less than 200 pages).


k