The Board of Longitude existed from 1714 to 1828 to reward workable solutions to finding longitude at sea. It spent its first 23 years without a meeting. Its reluctance to pay prizes is interpreted here partly as institutional self-preservation: acknowledging a complete solution and paying every award would reduce its reason to exist. An organization established to solve a technical problem could thus have an incentive to delay recognizing its solution.
Notable Point · 27:55-29:23
The Board of Longitude and the incentive to remain necessary
The Board of Longitude illustrates how an institution created to solve a problem could become reluctant to declare the problem solved and end its own role.