Articles

These articles are a random selection of write-ups I've done usually with the aim of helping me understand a new topic. With any luck they may even be useful to innocent bystanders.

A globe with latitude and longitude marked.

How to Convert from Latitude and Longitude to Ordnance Survey Grid References

I have often naively wondered how to "convert from latitude and longitude to Ordnance Survey grid references" and recently finally found out. Though this question sounds fairly reasonable, it actually hides a large degree of naivety. Not only is it not actually possible to make an exact conversion between the two, the question also fails to realise that 'latitude' and 'longitude' have many wildly differing yet very sensible definitions. This article aims to be a hand-wavy explanation of why everything can't just be nice and simple while also working towards answering my initial question.

Computing

GPS

Mapping