Difference between revisions of "Longitude"
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'''Lines of longitude''' or '''meridians''' are imaginary lines that run north and south across the earth. They are used to measure east-west location, relative to a "prime meridian" which by definition is 0°. While in the past many meridians have been used, since 1884 the Greenwich Meridian has become the universal standard. <ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Physical Science''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1999, 2000</ref> | '''Lines of longitude''' or '''meridians''' are imaginary lines that run north and south across the earth. They are used to measure east-west location, relative to a "prime meridian" which by definition is 0°. While in the past many meridians have been used, since 1884 the Greenwich Meridian has become the universal standard. <ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Physical Science''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1999, 2000</ref> | ||
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| + | Although lines of longitude may be imaginary, they are very important to navigators; [[Lewis Carroll]] joked about this in his long nonsense poem [[The Hunting of the Snark]]: | ||
| + | |||
| + | :"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,<br> | ||
| + | :Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"<br> | ||
| + | :So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would replyv | ||
| + | :"They are merely conventional signs!<br> | ||
| + | Accordingly, the Snark uses a map which is "a perfect and absolute blank." | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
Revision as of 17:08, March 26, 2007
Lines of longitude or meridians are imaginary lines that run north and south across the earth. They are used to measure east-west location, relative to a "prime meridian" which by definition is 0°. While in the past many meridians have been used, since 1884 the Greenwich Meridian has become the universal standard. [1]
Although lines of longitude may be imaginary, they are very important to navigators; Lewis Carroll joked about this in his long nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark:
- "What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
- Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"
- So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would replyv
- "They are merely conventional signs!
Accordingly, the Snark uses a map which is "a perfect and absolute blank."
References
- ↑ Wile, Dr. Jay L. Exploring Creation With Physical Science. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1999, 2000