It is 300 years since the Longitude Act of 1714, which offered a prize of £20,000 to anyone who could devise a method to accurately determine a ships position at sea. Among those on the committee who judged the merit of entries was the then serving Astronomer Royal. History is repeating itself. In 2014, Britain is reconvening the historic Longitude Committee to oversee Longitude Prize 2014, with a prize fund of £10 million. The Prize is being developed and run by Nesta, with the Technology Strategy Board as launch funding partner, and Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees, as Chair of the revived committee. Theres now not just an obvious number one challenge: there are many. A broad range of societal problems demand fresh thinking; we need to galvanise a new generation of innovators to address them. And its important to engage the public: we live in a world where science can do more and more to improve our lives, says Lord Rees.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Jun 2014 21:17:32 +0000
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