  The late-sixteenth century witnessed a major expansion of Dutch shipping
activity from northern European waters to the Indian Ocean and beyond. At a
time when the Renaissance had just arrived on the North Sea's shores,
scientist-scholars, navigators and merchants alike realised the urgent need for
and potential profitability of developing a practical means of longitude
determination at sea. Under pressure of early adopters, including Petrus
Plancius and Simon Stevin, on 1 April 1600 the national government of the Dutch
Republic announced a generous longitude prize, which would see gradual
increases in value over the next two centuries. In addition to leading thinkers
like Galileo and Christiaan Huygens, the Low Countries spawned major talent in
pursuit of a longitude solution. Their solutions reached well beyond
applications of the ephemerides of Jupiter's moons or the development of a
stable marine timepiece. Studies of the Earth's magnetic field, lunar
distances, astronomical observations combined with simple trigonometry and the
design of a "golden compass" all pushed the nation's maritime capabilities to a
higher level. Dutch efforts to "find East and West" were unparalleled and at
least as insightful as those pursued elsewhere on the continent.
