Looking for Longitude

Dr Katy Barrett is an interdisciplinary curator, scholar and writer focusing on interactions between art and science. Currently she works as Deputy Curator of Art and Head of Interpretation at the Houses of Parliament. She has previously worked as Curator of Art Collections at the Science Museum, London, Curator of Art, pre-1800, at Royal Museums Greenwich, and has held various posts in national and university museums. She has higher degrees in History of Art and History of Science and is active on social media as @SpoonsonTrays.

• List of Figures Introduction – What was the problem with longitude? Part I – The Visual ProblemChapter 1 – Naming and MappingChapter 2 – Paper InstrumentsConclusionPart II – The Mental ProblemChapter 3 - Proposing or Projecting?Chapter 4 - Madness or Genius?ConclusionPart III – The Social ProblemChapter 5 – Polite or impolite science?Chapter 6 - A cultural instrumentConclusionConclusion – The longitude of LondonAbbreviationsBibliography

‘In [Barrett’s] study she has sifted through an astounding multitude of written documents and pictorial material dealing with “longitude” as a term connoting a material problem on the one hand and a metaphor in Britain at the time on the other… this book is a valuable and trailblazing contribution to the newer discussion about the cultural dimensions of shipping and navigation.’ Wolfgang Köberer, Mariner’s Mirror