Walking Zero: Discovering Cosmic Space and Time along the Prime Meridian.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

Walking Zero: Discovering Cosmic Space and Time Along the Prime Meridian CHEW RAYMO. Walker, $23 (208p) ISBN 0-8027-1494-3

The latest from noted science writer Raymo (An Intimate Look at the Night Sky) isn't merely a history of the prime meridian, the zero-longitude line passing through eastern England that is the starting point for measuring both space and time on Earth. Roughly speaking, Raymo is interested in how we understand our place in the cosmos, and his walk along the prime meridian is a meditation on the evolving ways that humans have measured and understood space and time, stopping here and there at some of the most prominent landmarks in the history of …