International Conference Held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day. October, 1884.: Protocols of the ProceedingsInternational Meridian Conference (1884 : Washington, D.C.)
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International Conference Held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day. October, 1884.: Protocols of the Proceedings
International Meridian Conference (1884 : Washington, D.C.)
Prime Meridian -- Congresses; Time -- Systems and standards -- Congresses
Apply to the proposed example the formula which I suppose the majority
of the Congress will adopt, and the result will be a negative
quantity, minus six hours--a result not sufficiently comprehensible in
itself, and one that could not be easily applied by the general
public.
Can a majority prevail in questions, such as those we are speaking of,
simply by the force of numbers? The whole world for several centuries
thought that the earth was the centre of our planetary system; in
fact, until an insignificant minority rose against this theory, for a
long time considered by their ancestors indisputable.
I will conclude by expressing my opinion upon the subject with which
the Congress is occupied. My opinion is not new, in spite of its
having been modified in the course of our sitting. The works of our
eminent colleague and indefatigable propagandist, Mr. SANDFORD
FLEMING, the resolution of the Conference at Rome, the valuable
opinions of Messrs. Faye, Otto Struve, Beaumont de Boutiller, Hugo
Gylden, the scientific work of Monsieur Chancourtois, and the report
which M. Gaspari has just presented to the Academy of Sciences of
Paris are the text upon which I base the simplest and most practical
method of solving the problem, namely, to adopt as the prime meridian
for cosmic time and longitude a meridian near the point at which our
dates change, and to reckon longitude from zero hours to twenty-four
hours towards the west, contrary to the movement of the earth. The
formula would be then: Cosmic time = local time + longitude.
I think that the best way of finding cosmic time in relation to local
time and longitude is to add a quantity to the civil hour of each
point of the globe.
But as the majority of this Congress, so worthy of respect, admits no
modifications of the system which we may call Greenwich, let us lay
aside the question of longitude and consider cosmic time separately.
I have the honor, therefore, to present the following resolutions, and
I ask the Congress to consider them, and to accept them as a means of
compromise:
I. We agree to choose as the prime meridian for cosmic time that
meridian near which the civil day of the world commences, namely, the
anti-meridian of Rome, Greenwich, or Havre.
II. The cosmic day consists of twenty-four hours, and commences at
midnight of the prime meridian.
III. The earth is divided from the initial meridian into twenty-four
hour-spaces, counted in a direction contrary to the movement of the
earth from _0h._ to _24h_.
We shall, then, have the following formula: T = t + R, where R
represents the difference reckoned from _0h._ to _24h_. between the
local time of the prime meridian and the local time of each point of
the globe; T the Cosmic Time and t the local time.
The PRESIDENT. The Chair would ask the Delegate of Spain, Mr.
PASTORIN, whether he offers his resolution as an amendment to that
offered by his colleague, Mr. RUIZ DEL ARBOL.
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