FLAMSTEED House is one of the few Christopher Wren buildings that is still in surroundings worthy of it. Perched high above the Thames, it housed the first Astronomer Royal. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich had its home here, and the meridian line ran through the site. Well, actually two meridian lines ran through the grounds, reveal Charles Tanford and Jacqueline Reynolds in A Travel Guide to Scientific Sites of the British Isles (Wiley, pp 344 £12.99/$16.95 pbk). It is a good pocket guide to a largely ignored side of Britain that restores the history of science and technology to a land largely revered for its artistic monuments. Try it and discover who, what, where and when.
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