Ending the Lord Mayor's Experiment Series, City St George's helps settle a 350 year old question about the Monument to The Great Fire of London.
By Dr Shamim Quadir (Senior Communications Officer), Published
On Thursday 31 October, Professor Michael Mainelli, The Lord Mayor of the City of London and Rector of City St George's, University of London, closed his Experiment Series: a set of scientific trials held as part of his mayoral theme, ‘Connect to Prosper’.
The experiments, which brought together academic researchers and industry experts, underscore the City’s strength as a knowledge hub where academia and business unite to solve complex challenges.
Hosted at the Guildhall Art Gallery, the evening event was an opportunity to share the results of the series' "Measuring the Monument" experiment. This investigated whether Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was right in believing that the Monument pillar, erected to celebrate London's recovery from the Great Fire of 1666, was suitable for its lesser-known second purpose: to act as a giant telescope for viewing the stars and measuring their movements.
Specifically, Hooke wanted to try and prove what was then the controversial theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun and not the other way around.
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Professor Tong Sun and Professor Ken Grattan from the School of Science & Technology, City St George's, co-led the scientific contribution from City Optotech Ltd – a spin out company from the University – which measured the pillar's movement directly using a contact fibre optic method. Professor Grattan presented their findings.
Imetrum, a separate sensor company, used their own, novel non-contact technology, which employs very sensitive cameras to observe the movement of structures over time, and presented their findings as well.
The Measuring the Monument initiative was led overall by Past Master of the Worshipful Society of Scientific Instrument Makers, Professor Philip Thomas, who was previously Professor of Engineering Development at City, University of London between 2000 and early 2015.
Together, the ‘Measuring the Monument’ experiments showed that the Monument pillar, was indeed, unsuitable for measuring the stars' movements.
This is because, although the tower was built to be as rigid as possible, its tall structure would always make it prone to vibrations, and those vibrations are big enough to stop the positions of the stars being measured accurately.
Up to now, the limiting factor has been thought to be road traffic – with this theory dating back to the 1670s – but the advanced measurement methods show that wind gusts, even moderate breezes, pose an even greater problem. Robert Hooke was up against the forces of nature as well as human-made vibrations. The Monument could not, in the end, double up as the telescope Hooke had designed it to be.
The Lord Mayor of the City of London Corporation, Michael Mainelli said:
“The theme of this mayoralty is Connect to Prosper, celebrating the many knowledge miles which flow through our Square Mile – the world’s coffee house.
“Over 40 learned societies, 70 higher education institutions, and 130 research institutes exist in and around the City of London, making this the world’s most successful concentration of interconnected knowledge networks – where science and finance meet to find and to fund the solutions to global challenges."
Dr Adebayo Ogunjimi, chief executive at City Optotech said:
Professor Philip Thomas, Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers, said:
“Scientific Instrument Makers from academia and commercial organisations came together to clear up the centuries-old conundrum of why Robert Hooke abandoned his most visible and expensive experiment, where he wanted to prove, beyond doubt, that the Earth goes round the sun. We have created new knowledge in the process."
Elisabeth Jarvis, Operations Director at Imetrum said:
“Imetrum is delighted to be using its unique non-contact measurement technology to collaborate on this project. We are excited that the partnership has been able to use several 21st Century technologies to bring to life an experiment that started over 350 years ago.”
Enrique Gaztanaga, Professor in Astrophysics at Portsmouth University said:
“After 350 years, we have solved the mystery of its failure as a telescope, but The Monument stands as a testament to the scientific revolution that sought universal laws of physics and our place in the cosmos.”