论文标题
中国历史努力确定海上经度
Historical Chinese efforts to determine longitude at sea
论文作者
论文摘要
高级中国制图发展早于欧洲创新几个世纪。尽管欧洲制图的进展 - 特别是寻求在海上多年生“经度问题”的实用解决方案 - 是由持续的经济动机驱动的，而中国的制图努力主要对行政，会长和地形需求做出了反应。然而，在经验丰富的阿拉伯航海家和天文学家的帮助下，当代中国学者和导航员在某种程度上，在陆地和海上开发了独立的经度确定手段，同时使用了天文学观察和时间保存设备的结合，这些设备继续在投球和滚动的船上进行充分运作。尽管目前的文献（有时甚至是公开的民族主义言论）令人困惑和投机性的说法，但中国的技术能力适用于海上经度的确定，而由于文化和社会环境的设计与欧洲的发展不同，至少与欧洲对应物的相提并论。
High-level Chinese cartographic developments predate European innovations by several centuries. Whereas European cartographic progress -- and in particular the search for a practical solution to the perennial "longitude problem" at sea -- was driven by persistent economic motivations, Chinese mapmaking efforts responded predominantly to administrative, cadastral and topographic needs. Nevertheless, contemporary Chinese scholars and navigators, to some extent aided by experienced Arab navigators and astronomers, developed independent means of longitude determination both on land and at sea, using a combination of astronomical observations and timekeeping devices that continued to operate adequately on pitching and rolling ships. Despite confusing and speculative accounts in the current literature and sometimes overt nationalistic rhetoric, Chinese technical capabilities applied to longitude determination at sea, while different in design from European advances owing to cultural and societal circumstances, were at least on a par with those of their European counterparts.
