GREEN CARDAMOMS/Gaurangi Maitra
I WRITE from 92o 48’ E longitude in Tezpur to you at 91O52’ E longitude, Shillong after a long break. Numbers that translate into lines on maps that help us pin our location on the globe. Today this data is available at the click of a button. Yet, this data was not easy to come by.
From the time that our ancestors learnt to sail on the high seas, reliable guides to direction have been vital for charting courses, avoiding dangers and successful arrival at destination. Thus in times before longitudes could be reliably calculated, maps were worth their weight in gold. Since time and longitude are related, methods or instruments that could tell time at sea when no land marks were available or clouds obscured the sky were of essence. Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Al Buruni, Galileo, Christian Huygens, Robert Hooke, Jacob Bernoulli, Leonhard Euler, etc., have all been credited with making contributions that helped to determine longitude. Methods that used planetary or lunar positions had their limitations we believe or Christopher Columbus may not have discovered America while searching for a route to India.
In the 16th century prizes the prizes offered in 1567 and 1598 by Spain for this were never won. These dates tell us post the discoveries of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus the race for capitalizing on the riches of the East and tremendous increase in maritime action made the need imperative. Then in the 18th century after the Scilly naval disaster of 1707 which destroyed an entire English fleet, the British government established the Board of Longitude in 1714. And characteristically, the manifesto put out underlined the importance of chronometers for trade and set up the Longitude Prize. In 1773 John Harrison an English horologist won this prize. Therefore the longitude prize became an inducement prize that pushed you towards discovery.
In 2012 three organizations clubbed together to set up the current version, in the spirit of the 18th century prize with £10 million reward! One of course can check the details in www.longitudeprize.org. After its first announcement in 2012 by the British Prime Minister, out of all the entries received, six were shortlisted by its committee: Flight – How can we fly without damaging the environment? Food – How can we ensure everyone has nutritious sustainable food? Antibiotics – How can we prevent the rise of resistance to antibiotics? Paralysis – How can we restore movement to those with paralysis? Water –How can we ensure everyone has access to safe and clean drinking water? Dementia – How can we help people with dementia live independently for longer?
When put to vote, the British public chose antibiotics. The result was announced on 25th June 2014.
The choice is indeed interesting given that penicillin became the first antibiotic for widespread use at only the end of the World War 2 it tells us how a 60-year-old wonder cure for ills across the board must bow to the far superior survival skills of these microorganisms honed by over three billion years of adaptation and evolution. Who will win? Man or bug? Will a single inducement prize be able to cover the entire story and find a deserving solution? Only time will tell. ([email protected])
[Main resources: Wikipedia, Longitude by Dava Sobel and www.longitudeprize.org]