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Which goes to show... A. How arbitrary ( the 0 Meridian would have been just as functional drawn anywhere on the planet) and B. How political (conventions for 0 Meridian HAD been established, previously, at different points on the planet) ...the standards development process can be! ---------------------------------------------- Harry Lewis IBM Printing Systems ---------------------------------------------- <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td> <td>"Carl" <carl@manros.com> Sent by: owner-ipp@pwg.org 08/14/2002 03:38 PM <td>                To:        <ipp@pwg.org>         cc:                 Subject:        IPP> Greenwich 101        </table> <tt>Hi all, </tt> <tt>I am back from my trip to Europe and I am still trying to make head and tail of the IPP discussion that happened while I was away. </tt> <tt>However, in this message I wanted to draw your attention to the very stable standard that was created in Greenwich some 270 years ago. </tt> <tt>Greenwich is a small old style town southeast of central London. The locals don't pronounce the 'w' in the name. </tt> <tt>On a hill in a big green park is the Royal Observatory located. It was built in the early part of the 18th century and was used to study astronomy. The Queen's Astronomer at the time decided that his observatory should mark the 0 (also called Prime) Meridian on the globe and marked the exact location with a painted line. Huge clocklike instruments were used to determine the exact latitude in relation to the sun and the other planets. It is claimed that if you have one leg on each side of the 0 meridian you are in both east and west at the same time. </tt> <tt>Along with the 0 meridian also comes the location for our time system, hence Greenwich time (US military ZULU time). </tt> <tt>I enclose a picture of the 0 meridian line. </tt> <tt>Carl-Uno </tt> <tt>Carl-Uno Manros 10701 S Eastern Ave #1117 Henderson, NV 89052, USA Tel +1-702-617-9414 Fax +1-702-617-9417 Mob +1-702-525-0727 Email carl@manros.com </tt> <tt>Carl-Uno Manros 10701 S Eastern Ave #1117 Henderson, NV 89052, USA Tel +1-702-617-9414 Fax +1-702-617-9417 Mob +1-702-525-0727 Email carl@manros.com</tt> #### greenwich.jpg has been removed from this note on August 14 2002 by Harry Lewis