The European Age of Discovery during the 16th and the 17th centuries , where many new lands were discovered and accounts by European explorers such as Christopher Columbus , Marco Polo , and James Cook revived a desire for both accurate geographic detail , and more solid theoretical foundations in Europe . The problem facing both explorers and geographers was finding the latitude and longitude of a geographic location . The problem of latitude was solved long ago but that of longitude remained ; agreeing on what zero meridian should be was only part of the problem . It was left to John Harrison to solve it by inventing the chronometer H-4 in 1760 , and later in 1884 for the International Meridian Conference to adopt by convention the Greenwich meridian as zero meridian
International Meridian Conference
International Meridian Conference
Geography