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HarvardX: PredictionX: Lost Without Longitude

4.5 stars
16 ratings

Explore the history of navigation, from stars to satellites.

PredictionX: Lost Without Longitude
1 weeks
2–5 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

45,580 already enrolled! After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts Mar 28

About this course

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Humans have been navigating for ages. As we developed the tools and techniques for determining location and planning a route, navigation grew into a practice, an art, and a science. Navigational skill has long been tied to commercial, economic, and military success. However, the ability to predict when and where one will reach a distant destination is more than just a key to empire-building — it’s often a matter of life and death.

Using video, text, infographics, and Worldwide Telescope tours, we will explore the tools and techniques that navigators have used, with a particular focus on the importance (and difficulty) of measuring longitude. Grounded in the principles of position, direction, speed, and time, we will learn the challenges of navigating without a GPS signal. We’ll learn how the Age of Exploration and the economic forces of worldwide trade encouraged scientific progress in navigation; and how Jupiter’s moons, lunar eclipses, and clockmakers all played a part in orienting history’s navigators.

Centuries of progress in navigation have helped put humans on the moon and spacecraft on a comet. This course will explain how we got there, and how that progress enables you to get where you’re going today.

At a glance

  • Institution: HarvardX
  • Subject: History
  • Level: Introductory
  • Prerequisites:

    None

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated programs:
  • Associated skills:Spacecraft, Planning, Infographics

What you'll learn

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  • What exactly navigation is and how it works
  • The importance of position, direction, and speed
  • The many navigational tools of the 18th century
  • How the motion of the sun and stars aids navigation
  • Why longitude is so difficult to determine
  • The historical context of navigation’s technical advances
  • The role of chronometers and lunar distance
  • The story of John Harrison and The Longitude Prize

More about this course

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Honor code statement

HarvardX requires individuals who enroll in its courses on edX to abide by the terms of the edX honor code. HarvardX will take appropriate corrective action in response to violations of the edX honor code, which may include dismissal from the HarvardX course; revocation of any certificates received for the HarvardX course; or other remedies as circumstances warrant. No refunds will be issued in the case of corrective action for such violations. Enrollees who are taking HarvardX courses as part of another program will also be governed by the academic policies of those programs.

Research statement

By registering as an online learner in our open online courses, you are also participating in research intended to enhance HarvardX's instructional offerings as well as the quality of learning and related sciences worldwide. In the interest of research, you may be exposed to some variations in the course materials. HarvardX does not use learner data for any purpose beyond the University's stated missions of education and research. For purposes of research, we may share information we collect from online learning activities, including Personally Identifiable Information, with researchers beyond Harvard. However, your Personally Identifiable Information will only be shared as permitted by applicable law, will be limited to what is necessary to perform the research, and will be subject to an agreement to protect the data. We may also share with the public or third parties aggregated information that does not personally identify you. Similarly, any research findings will be reported at the aggregate level and will not expose your personal identity.

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Nondiscrimination/anti-harassment statement

Harvard University and HarvardX are committed to maintaining a safe and healthy educational and work environment in which no member of the community is excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination or harassment in our program. All members of the HarvardX community are expected to abide by Harvard policies on nondiscrimination, including sexual harassment, and the edX Terms of Service. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact harvardx@harvard.edu and/or report your experience through the edX contact form.

This course is part of PredictionX XSeries Program

Learn more 
Expert instruction
3 high-quality courses
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
1 month
2 - 3 hours per week

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