Australian Physics, 52, 4, Jul – Aug 2015
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Edwin Danson, UK: the Work of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon
The Work of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon Edwin DANSON, United Kingdom Key words: Mason, Charles; Dixon, Jeremiah; Mason-Dixon Line; Pre-revolutionary History; Surveying; Geodesy; US History; Pennsylvania; Maryland. ABSTRACT The geodetic activities of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in America between 1763-68 were, for the period, without precedent. Their famous boundary dividing Maryland from Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon Line, today remains a fitting monument to these two brave, resourceful and extremely talented scientists. Tutored by Astronomer Royal Dr James Bradley, Charles Mason was aware of the contemporary theories and experiments to establish the true shape of the Earth. He was also cognisant of what was being termed “the attraction of mountains” (deviation of the vertical). However, at the time it was no more than a theory, a possibility, and it was by no means certain whether the Earth was solid or hollow. The Mason-Dixon Line, a line of constant latitude fifteen miles south of Philadelphia, although the most arduous of their tasks, was only part of their work for the proprietors of Maryland and Pennsylvania. For the Royal Society of London, they also measured the first degree of latitude in America. In recent years, the Mason-Dixon Line Preservation Partnership has located many of the original markers and surveyed them using GPS. The paper reviews the work of Mason and Dixon covering the period 1756-1786. In particular, their methods and results for the American boundary lines are discussed together with comments on the accuracy they achieved compared with GPS observations. CONTACT Edwin Danson 14 Sword Gardens Swindon, SN5 8ZE UNITED KINGDOM Tel. -
From the Editor Chris Berg
From the Editor Chris Berg t’s not too often that we can look enviously at the political Belian has written, the inability of the Belgian Parliament to state of a country buried deep in the European Union. approve European Commission directives means that ‘in its IBrussels is not just the capital of Belgium, but it is also hour of ungovernability Belgium is now more sovereign than the de facto capital of the EU, hosting the European Com- it has been in the past 50 years.’ mission, the Council of the European Union, the European This special edition of the IPA Review arrives in newsa- Council and one of the seats of the European Parliament. gencies and letterboxes at a significant moment for the cause So it is either fitting or ironic (I can’t figure out which) of limited government and open society in Australia. At the that Belgium has now been, for more than six months, without dramatic end of a nominally liberal/conservative govern- a government to call its own. As we quietly recover from the ment, we have assembled the nation’s best liberal and con- shrill hangover of the 2007 federal election, it’s worth consider- servative commentators to try to describe the legacy of the ing how Australia could have been if no government had been Howard government and the causes of its demise. But more successfully elected in November. importantly, this IPA Review en- Since the 10th of June, Belgian gages with the question—what politicians have been—at least as It’s worth considering next for liberalism? Has the cause this edition of the IPA Review goes of liberty advanced or retreated to press—unable to form a govern- how Australia could over the last decade? What are the ment coalition. -
Articles Articles
Articles Articles ALEXI BAKER “Precision,” “Perfection,” and the Reality of British Scientific Instruments on the Move During the 18th Century Résumé Abstract On représente souvent les instruments scientifiques Early modern British “scientific” instruments, including du 18e siècle, y compris les chronomètres de précision, precision timekeepers, are often represented as static, comme des objets statiques, à l’état neuf et complets en pristine, and self-contained in 18th-century depictions eux-mêmes dans les descriptions des débuts de l’époque and in many modern museum displays. In reality, they moderne et dans de nombreuses expositions muséales were almost constantly in physical flux. Movement and d’aujourd’hui. En réalité, ces instruments se trouvaient changing and challenging environmental conditions presque constamment soumis à des courants physiques. frequently impaired their usage and maintenance, Le mouvement et les conditions environnementales especially at sea and on expeditions of “science” and difficiles et changeantes perturbaient souvent leur exploration. As a result, individuals’ experiences with utilisation et leur entretien, en particulier en mer et mending and adapting instruments greatly defined the lors d’expéditions scientifiques et d’exploration. Ce culture of technology and its use as well as later efforts sont donc les expériences individuelles de réparation at standardization. et d’adaptation des instruments qui ont grandement contribué à définir la culture de la technologie. In 1769, the astronomer John Bradley finally the calculation of the distance between the Earth reached the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall and the Sun. Bradley had not needed to travel with his men, instruments, and portable tent as far as many of his Transit counterparts, but observatory after a stressful journey. -
(ASX100) Women on Boards Analysis
Australia/NZ | Australia Thematic Investing (Citi) Equities 18 August 2011 │ 32 pages ESG: ASX100 Women on Board Analysis Increasing Focus on Board Diversity Women on Boards of ASX100 Companies — The ASX Corporate Governance Council’s new principles and recommendations on diversity commenced on 1 January Elaine Prior 2011. This is likely to lead to increasing focus on companies’ approaches to diversity +61-2-8225-4891 issues, including female representation on company boards. This report looks at data [email protected] on women directors on ASX100 company boards. The number of women directors has Felipe Faria increased, particularly in recent months (Figure 5 to Figure 8). Board diversity may [email protected] enhance effectiveness, by providing a wider range of perspectives and knowledge. Women on Boards Data — We collected and analysed data on female board directors of S&P/ASX100 companies from FY08 to 8 August 2011 (Figure 5 to Figure 9). At 8 August 2011 there were 134 women on ASX100 boards, a 46% increase from FY08. ASX100 companies with no female board directors were AQP, CQO, EGP, FMG, IPL, JHX, LEI, LYC, OSH, PDN, PRY, RHC, RMD, SGM and SWM. Companies with three female directors (the highest number identified) are AMP, BEN, CBA, MQG, QAN, QBE and WBC. Seven female directors each currently hold three ASX100 directorships. Business Case for Gender Diversity — Reibey Institute research found that those ASX500 companies with women directors on 30 June 2010 had a 3-year return on equity (ROE) 10.7% higher than those without any women directors. The 5-year ROE was 11.1% higher. -
Downloading Material Is Agreeing to Abide by the Terms of the Repository Licence
Cronfa - Swansea University Open Access Repository _____________________________________________________________ This is an author produced version of a paper published in: Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion Cronfa URL for this paper: http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa40899 _____________________________________________________________ Paper: Tucker, J. Richard Price and the History of Science. Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 23, 69- 86. _____________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence. Copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. The copyright for any work remains with the original author unless otherwise specified. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder. Permission for multiple reproductions should be obtained from the original author. Authors are personally responsible for adhering to copyright and publisher restrictions when uploading content to the repository. http://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/ris-support/ 69 RICHARD PRICE AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE John V. Tucker Abstract Richard Price (1723–1791) was born in south Wales and practised as a minister of religion in London. He was also a keen scientist who wrote extensively about mathematics, astronomy, and electricity, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Written in support of a national history of science for Wales, this article explores the legacy of Richard Price and his considerable contribution to science and the intellectual history of Wales. -
Digital Histories: Emergent Approaches Within the New Digital History (Pp
CHAPTER 14 The Many Ways to Talk about the Transits of Venus Astronomical Discourses in Philosophical Transactions, 1753–1777 Reetta Sippola A Popular Astronomical Event In the 1760s, one of astronomy’s rarest predictable phenomena, the so-called Transit of Venus, was calculated to take place twice: in 1761 and in 1769. This phenomenon, when the planet Venus passes across the Sun, from the Earth’s vantage point, was not only extremely rare, as the previous transit had taken place in 1639 and the next was to follow in 1874, but also very valuable scien- tifically, as observing this kind of transit would make it possible to determine the distance between the Earth and the Sun more accurately than before. This could in turn make it easier to improve a number of practical issues relying on astronomical knowledge, foremost among them to improve the accuracy of calculating locations at sea, which at this time was at best inaccurate, often resulting in costly and deadly accidents. Thus, the two Transit of Venus events and the astronomical information that could be derived from observing them enjoyed wide interest among both scientific professionals and the general How to cite this book chapter: Sippola, R. (2020). The many ways to talk about the Transits of Venus: Astronomical discourses in Philosophical Transactions, 1753–1777. In M. Fridlund, M. Oiva, & P. Paju (Eds.), Digital histories: Emergent approaches within the new digital history (pp. 237–257). Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://doi.org/10.33134 /HUP-5-14 238 Digital Histories public. The scientific interest in the transits during the 18th century was rep- resented through a large number of news items and scientific reports in the scientific literature, especially in scientific periodicals, such as thePhilosophi - cal Transactions of the Royal Society of London. -
Cavendish the Experimental Life
Cavendish The Experimental Life Revised Second Edition Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge Series Editors Ian T. Baldwin, Gerd Graßhoff, Jürgen Renn, Dagmar Schäfer, Robert Schlögl, Bernard F. Schutz Edition Open Access Development Team Lindy Divarci, Georg Pflanz, Klaus Thoden, Dirk Wintergrün. The Edition Open Access (EOA) platform was founded to bring together publi- cation initiatives seeking to disseminate the results of scholarly work in a format that combines traditional publications with the digital medium. It currently hosts the open-access publications of the “Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge” (MPRL) and “Edition Open Sources” (EOS). EOA is open to host other open access initiatives similar in conception and spirit, in accordance with the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the sciences and humanities, which was launched by the Max Planck Society in 2003. By combining the advantages of traditional publications and the digital medium, the platform offers a new way of publishing research and of studying historical topics or current issues in relation to primary materials that are otherwise not easily available. The volumes are available both as printed books and as online open access publications. They are directed at scholars and students of various disciplines, and at a broader public interested in how science shapes our world. Cavendish The Experimental Life Revised Second Edition Christa Jungnickel and Russell McCormmach Studies 7 Studies 7 Communicated by Jed Z. Buchwald Editorial Team: Lindy Divarci, Georg Pflanz, Bendix Düker, Caroline Frank, Beatrice Hermann, Beatrice Hilke Image Processing: Digitization Group of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Cover Image: Chemical Laboratory. -
The Venus Transit: a Historical Retrospective
The Venus Transit: a Historical Retrospective Larry McHenry The Venus Transit: A Historical Retrospective 1) What is a ‘Venus Transit”? A: Kepler’s Prediction – 1627: B: 1st Transit Observation – Jeremiah Horrocks 1639 2) Why was it so Important? A: Edmund Halley’s call to action 1716 B: The Age of Reason (Enlightenment) and the start of the Industrial Revolution 3) The First World Wide effort – the Transit of 1761. A: Countries and Astronomers involved B: What happened on Transit Day C: The Results 4) The Second Try – the Transit of 1769. A: Countries and Astronomers involved B: What happened on Transit Day C: The Results 5) The 19th Century attempts – 1874 Transit A: Countries and Astronomers involved B: What happened on Transit Day C: The Results 6) The 19th Century’s Last Try – 1882 Transit - Photography will save the day. A: Countries and Astronomers involved B: What happened on Transit Day C: The Results 7) The Modern Era A: Now it’s just for fun: The AU has been calculated by other means). B: the 2004 and 2012 Transits: a Global Observation C: My personal experience – 2004 D: the 2004 and 2012 Transits: a Global Observation…Cont. E: My personal experience - 2012 F: New Science from the Transit 8) Conclusion – What Next – 2117. Credits The Venus Transit: A Historical Retrospective 1) What is a ‘Venus Transit”? Introduction: Last June, 2012, for only the 7th time in recorded history, a rare celestial event was witnessed by millions around the world. This was the transit of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun. -
Philosophical Transactions (A)
INDEX TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS (A) FOR THE YEAR 1889. A. A bney (W. de W.). Total Eclipse of the San observed at Caroline Island, on 6th May, 1883, 119. A bney (W. de W.) and T horpe (T. E.). On the Determination of the Photometric Intensity of the Coronal Light during the Solar Eclipse of August 28-29, 1886, 363. Alcohol, a study of the thermal properties of propyl, 137 (see R amsay and Y oung). Archer (R. H.). Observations made by Newcomb’s Method on the Visibility of Extension of the Coronal Streamers at Hog Island, Grenada, Eclipse of August 28-29, 1886, 382. Atomic weight of gold, revision of the, 395 (see Mallet). B. B oys (C. V.). The Radio-Micrometer, 159. B ryan (G. H.). The Waves on a Rotating Liquid Spheroid of Finite Ellipticity, 187. C. Conroy (Sir J.). Some Observations on the Amount of Light Reflected and Transmitted by Certain 'Kinds of Glass, 245. Corona, on the photographs of the, obtained at Prickly Point and Carriacou Island, total solar eclipse, August 29, 1886, 347 (see W esley). Coronal light, on the determination of the, during the solar eclipse of August 28-29, 1886, 363 (see Abney and Thorpe). Coronal streamers, observations made by Newcomb’s Method on the Visibility of, Eclipse of August 28-29, 1886, 382 (see A rcher). Cosmogony, on the mechanical conditions of a swarm of meteorites, and on theories of, 1 (see Darwin). Currents induced in a spherical conductor by variation of an external magnetic potential, 513 (see Lamb). 520 INDEX. -
By Design Annual Report 2011
ANNUAL REPORT 2011 REPORT ANNUAL BY DESIGN BY URBAN RMIT UNIVERSITY » ANNUAL REPORT 2011 OBJECTS OF RMIT UNIVERSITY GLOSSARY Extract from the RMIT Act 2010 AASB Australian Accounting Standards Board The objects of the University include: AIA Advertising Institute of Australasia (a) to provide and maintain a teaching and learning environment ALTC Australian Learning and Teaching Council of excellent quality offering higher education at an international APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation standard; AQTF Australian Quality Training Framework (b) to provide vocational education and training, further education ARC Australian Research Council and other forms of education determined by the University to ATAR Australian Tertiary Admission Rank support and complement the provision of higher education by the University; CELTA Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults CEQ Course Experience Questionnaire (c) to undertake scholarship, pure and applied research, invention, innovation, education and consultancy of international standing CRC Cooperative Research Centre and to apply those matters to the advancement of knowledge CRICOS Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for and to the benefit of the well-being of the Victorian, Australian Overseas Students and international communities; DDA Disability Discrimination Act (d) to equip graduates of the University to excel in their chosen DEEWR Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment careers and to contribute to the life of the community; and Workplace Relations (e) to serve -
RESPONSE to the SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE on the NBN 30 April 2014
RESPONSE TO THE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE NBN 30 April 2014 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Senate Select Committee on the NBN tabled an interim report on 26 March 2014 in which Labor and Green Senators allege financial irregularities and manipulations in the NBN Co Strategic Review (which set out a ‘Revised Outlook’ for Labor’s NBN and forecasts for five other scenarios). The Government rejects each of the seven key allegations: 1. The interim report alleges the Revised Outlook for Labor’s FTTP NBN assumes delays “at odds with NBN Co’s current run rate”. In truth today’s 950 brownfield premises per working day would need to increase five-fold for the Revised Outlook to finish in 2024. The financial impact of delays is clear – the network must be built before it can generate revenue and avert more borrowing (Page 6). 2. The interim report alleges the Revised Outlook ignores $4 billion in design savings ‘signed off’ and ‘implemented’ by NBN Co. KordaMentha determined $1 billion of savings were valid; the remainder had no finished business case and/or were inconsistent with the Corporate Plan (Page 11). 3. The interim report alleges the Revised Outlook inflates FTTP costs, adding $14 billion to capex. In fact most Revised Outlook costs, including FTTP, are well under actual costs to date. Costs to date have been understated because they were not ‘commercially complete’ (i.e. didn’t finalise all claims from contractors) and much of the work up to now has ‘cherry-picked’ lower cost areas (Page 14). 4. The interim report alleges revenue estimates in the Strategic Review are too low. -
UNIVERSITY PROFILES 2021 This Work Is Licensed Under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA UNIVERSITY PROFILES 2021 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. Further inquiries should be made to the Chief Executive. 1 Geils Court, Canberra ACT 2601 P +61 (0)2 6285 8100 E [email protected] universitiesaustralia.edu.au ABN 53 008 502 930 FOREWORD Universities are places of great inspiration and initiative. They are where we forge our understanding of ourselves and the world around us – and our place in a forward-looking nation. Our universities educated more Australian students than ever before in 2019 – over one million Australian and 450,00 international students. Almost 340,000 students graduated that same year. Our universities offer courses in natural and physical sciences, information technology, engineering, architecture and building, agriculture and environmental studies, health, education, management and commerce, society and culture, creative arts and food hospitality and personal services. Universities are constantly adding new disciplines of study that reflect changes in industry, society and workplaces. Through them, they seek to prepare students for jobs that do not yet exist. Australia relies on our world-class university research to find solutions to the biggest challenges and to grasp the most promising opportunities. University expertise, ingenuity and innovation help to develop new industries and new jobs that will shape Australia’s future. Through collaborations with business, university researchers help them solve their toughest problems and bring their ideas to fruition. Through this research, education and community engagement, universities improve the lives of individuals, families, communities, and the nation. Thirty-nine outstanding universities are members of Universities Australia and this, the 2021 edition of University Profiles, is your guide to all of them.