One Minute Wonders (piano) One Minute Wonders (piano) One Minute Wonders is the name given to a series of piano pieces by leading British composers, commissioned by the pianist Clive Williamson in association with the University of Surrey. The challenge, laid down to all contributing composers, was that submitted compositions had to last no longer than 60 seconds (although, in practice, several pieces exceeded the time limit). Contributing composers included Colin Matthews, John Woolrich, Julian Anderson, Matthew King, Tansy Davies, Steve Goss and Michael Finnissy. Many of the compositions were premiered at a concert at the University of Surrey in 2005. Anthony Payne, writing
Longitude rewards Longitude Act only addressed the determination of longitude at sea. Determining longitude reasonably accurately on land was, from the 17th century onwards, possible using the Galilean moons of Jupiter as an astronomical 'clock'. The moons were easily observable on land, but numerous attempts to reliably observe them from the deck of a ship resulted in failure. For details on other efforts towards determining the longitude, see History of longitude. The need for better navigational accuracy for increasingly longer oceanic voyages had been an issue explored by many European nations for centuries before the passing of the Longitude Act in England