With both history and science What is the truth of this mixed story?

Why, after technology has advanced so far? Greenwich hasn’t changed, Have scientists really chosen the right place?

It all started with a meridian.

I mean Greenwich “Number Meridian”As you all know, this is the point where longitude passes 0 degrees and this line divides the Earth into two: the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

But a meridian set this to 0 degrees It is a more complex process than we think, especially in ancient times.

Until the mid-19th century, every country and even every city used its own local time.

Think about what this means: complete chaos. Trains are late, Trade turned into chaos and international communications reached a dead end.

Used by the world’s largest transportation countries There were 11 different prime meridians. For example, the time was 12:00 in London, 12:04 in Birmingham and 11:56 in Liverpool. As such, it was impossible to regulate train schedules.

To end the confusion, the International Meridian Conference was held in Washington in 1884.

The star of Greenwich shone here. Based in Greenwich, England Royal ObservatoryIt became a worldwide reference point for sailors and astronomers of the time.

The British were maritime pioneers maps of greenwich This is the heart of the company.

So why Greenwich?

King II by Charles The Royal Observatory was founded. The purpose of the observatory was to create accurate navigational charts and facilitate length calculations for sailors. Of course, at that time, the most important thing to avoid getting lost in the oceans was to know the time correctly.

Developed at the observatory “Greenwich Mean Time” (GMT) It ensured that sailors could sail safely. In a sense, the world’s first ‘universal clock’ was born here.

Of course, it took some time before it was used around the world.

Although trains and telegraph systems developed during the Industrial Revolution, the chaos did not immediately diminish. Greenwich time It first became widespread throughout England.

However Turkiye, Russia, Portugal and it took more than twenty years before the Netherlands switched to the global time zone standard. However, France was proud of its astronomical heritage and continued to use the Paris Observatory until 1911.

In 1972, GMT was switched to UTC.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) replaced in 1972 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) left.

The reference point for UTC remains 0 degrees longitude, but Technological advances such as GPS Thanks to this, in 1984 a more accurate location for 0 degrees longitude was determined and accepted.

Nowadays, scientific measurements are actually carried out using GPS and Original location of Greenwich It is not used, but the effect of this error is quite small.

The true prime meridian is only 102 meters to the east.

new location, more accurately and this is a line that is used today, but we must remember that scientists at the time were working with limited tools.

Both lines are just apart 102 meters away It’s actually a wonderful testament to their hard work. While the old line is both historical and scientific, the new one is also seen as increasingly precise navigation of Earth’s terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric systems.

But this still does not mean that we will ignore the old line. After all, it has been known for centuries an accepted fact There is also.

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