A New Wave of Prosopography: an Application to Tide Prediction Machines

MyMaster’s degree research project concerns the history and developmentof analogue tide prediction machines. In this speed lecture presentation I explain how I am using a novel approach to prosopography to study the lives of tide prediction machines. I gave this 5-minute speed lecture atthe International Postgraduate Port and Maritime Studies Network Conference2019 at the University of Dundee on 25April2019. Abstract:Tide Prediction Machines (TPMs) are analogue computers that were used to predict the times of high and low tides worldwide from the end of the 1800s up to the digital age. The first TPM was designed by William Thomson and built in London in 1873. It was developed as a response to increasing pressure from commercial shipping lines towards the middle of the 19th century who wanted a greater number of more accurate tidal predictions more quickly than could be calculated by hand. As well as helping shipping lines and navies to safely navigate the seas and the shores, TPMs became crucial to the building of ports and effective flood defences. Most of the 33 TPMs ever built were constructed in the UK but were then shipped to other countries who wanted to do their own calculations. In this research, prosopography is used to analyse the life cycle of TPMs, from the motivation for producing them to their decommissioning and their status today. Prosopography is a research approach usually used by historians to study the lives of groups of people; only recently has the idea of conducting prosopographical studies of collections of related objects begun to be explored. This is a concept that is developed and utilised in this research. The aim is to find and analyse the common features in the lives of TPMs, which will give an appreciation of their importance, the extent of their use and usefulness, and an impression of the shape of their lives.