The Royal Observatory in Greenwich – not a research institution, and the Museum of astronomical and navigational instruments. Tourists come here in droves. They can understand: a quiet place played a huge role in the development of Britain's great Maritime power.

In 1674, an influential nobleman, mathematician and surveyor sir Jonas Moore who convinced king Charles II to create the example of France Royal Observatory. Working in it was a young astronomer John Flamsteed. The monarch agreed on the condition that the tools sir Moore will provide the Observatory at own expense.

Draft Flamsteed house was designed by architect Christopher Wren (with the assistance of the great physicist and mathematician Robert Hooke). The budget was limited, to save used the old Foundation, orientation of the building was broken. Flamsteed was disappointed. However, the Royal Observatory quickly became one of the leading scientific institutions of its kind in the world.

The future of Britain depended on its Navy, and in front of the fleet there was a problem: because of the inability to determine the exact location of ships in 1707 in the sea were killed 2,000 people. In 1714, Parliament established a prize of 20,000 pounds (about 2 million pounds current) to the one who will solve the problem of determining longitude at sea. Success has an unknown carpenter and clockmaker John Harrison. In the Observatory you can visit the Harrison gallery, which holds made them legendary marine chronometers. They are all in working condition and regularly ticking.

Even two centuries ago, Britain was considered the time and distance from Greenwich, France – from Paris Meridian, Russia – Pulkovo. But the development of international trade demanded unification. In 1884, the world agreed to take exactly zero Greenwich Meridian. Outlined his brass band, crossing the courtyard of the Observatory. Museum visitors have a rare opportunity to stand with one foot in the Eastern hemisphere, the other in West and take a picture of your feet. More accurately, however, the zero Meridian is shown a bright green laser beam emanating strictly from the Observatory to the North, – it is visible in the sky at night in London.

The phrase "Greenwich mean time" is familiar to all. In 1833, the astronomer John pond put here the spire with the "Orb of time" – exactly at 13.00 GMT the sharply fell down. The signal was quite possible to accurately set the chronometers. Now World time is calculated by extragalactic sources of radio emission, but the ball in Greenwich still falls every day.

The Museum's collection of instruments for the accurate measurement of time, including the astronomical clock Soviet scientist Theodosius Fedchenko, among the most accurate pendulum clock serial. You can see 28-inch telescope-refractor, established in 1893 by sir Howard Grubba, – to this day it is the largest refractor in the UK. Astronomical observations from Greenwich, however, no longer maintained: even after the Second world Observatory left – observations have been hampered by the proximity of London.