Pendulum gravity on Guam
In 1819 Louis de Freycinet measured gravity on Guam using four pendulums, and in 1828 Fyodor Litke did the same thing, with just one pendulum. How well did they do?
Foreigners in the northern Marianas
Amongst the entertainments provided on Guam for the de Freycinets (and almost every other foreign visitor) was a performance of a close relative of the All Black’s haka, by a group of Hawaiians.
Lock-down
The Gladestry Old Men’s Lunch was unanimous in its opinion that there was not one person in the upper levels of any of the three main political parties for whom one could feel the slightest shred of respect. Ayn Rand would, of course, have agreed …..
Pulau Anso: another missed opportunity
The astronomer John Goldingham makes an appearance in ‘The Hunt for Earth Gravity’ on account of pendulum measurements he made in his observatory in Madras (modern Chennai), but he has another claim to fame. He was responsible the first gravity measurements made in Sumatra or, rather, on one of its offshore islands.