Longitude rewards

The Longitude rewards refer to the system of inducement prizes offered by the British government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude at sea. The rewards, established through an Act of Parliament (the Longitude Act) in 1714, were administered by the Board of Longitude.

This was by no means the first reward to be offered to solve this problem. Philip II of Spain offered one in 1567, Philip III in 1598 offered 6,000 ducats and a pension, whilst the States General of the Netherlands offered 10,000 florins shortly after. However, these large sums were never won, though several people were awarded smaller amounts for significant achievements.

The Longitude Problem

The measurement of longitude was a problem that came into sharp focus as people began making transoceanic voyages. Determining latitude was relatively easy in that it could be found from the altitude of the sun at noon with the aid of a table giving the sun's declination for the day. For longitude, early ocean navigators had to rely on dead reckoning, based on calculations of the vessel's heading and speed for a given time (much of which was based on intuition on the part of the master and/or navigator). This was inaccurate on long voyages out of sight of land, and these voyages sometimes ended in tragedy. An accurate determination of longitude was also necessary to determine the proper "magnetic declination", that is, the difference between indicated magnetic north and true north, which can differ by up to 10 degrees in the important trade latitudes of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Finding an adequate solution to determining longitude at sea was therefore of paramount importance.

Longitude Prize 2014

The Longitude Prize 2014 is an inducement prize contest offered by Nesta, a British lottery funded charity, in the spirit of the 18th-century Longitude prize.

The prize was announced by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, in 2012, and a shortlist of six challenges to be put to a public vote was announced at Broadcasting House in May 2014.

It was announced on 25 June 2014 that the prize will be awarded for antibiotics.

Candidate challenges

The six challenges as selected by a committee are:

Longitude Committee

A committee, chaired by Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, chose the six challenges that will be put to a public vote. The committee members are: