The King’s Observatory at Greenwich and the First Astronomers Royal: Flamsteed to Bliss

The Royal Observatory at Greenwich, established in 1675, revolutionized maritime navigation by prioritizing high-precision angular data to determine longitude at sea. This approach, championed by the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, and his successors—Edmond Halley, James Bradley, Nathaniel Bliss, and Nevil Maskelyne—combined advanced instrumental accuracy with systematic observation. The observatory's success was not only due to the astronomers but also to the craftsmen like Thomas Tompion, George Graham, and John Bird, who designed and built the instruments that made these breakthroughs possible. This collaboration of science, technology, history, and maritime safety at Greenwich laid the foundation for modern astronomy and navigation.

Chapman, A. (2019). The King’s Observatory at Greenwich and the First Astronomers Royal: Flamsteed to Bliss. Mathematics at the Meridian, 17–44. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351253901-2