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Re: Captains Logbook from 1687 describes longitude
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2016 Dec 1, 09:43 -0800
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2016 Dec 1, 09:43 -0800
Lars Bergman, you wrote: "The meridian of Ferro was 20°W of the meridian of Paris."
And this was the definition. For French geographers, the meridian of Ferro was exactly 20° 00' from Paris. It didn't really matter that this line of longitude did not pass through the island of Ferro (modern El Hierro). In fact, this meridian, exactly 20° west from Paris, falls about 20 miles east of the center of the island and about a dozen miles east of the easternmost point of the island.
Frank Reed
