Lost at Sea, the Search for Longitude
Ethan Keyser
ME 350X History of Technology
03 November, 2014
For centuries sailor had sought a way to figure out exactly where they were on an open body of water. Eventually they were able to figure out latitude; however, the sailors could not find a way to calculate their longitude. John Harrison, an Englishman who taught himself to build clocks, thought that a precise clock was the secret to finding a ship’s longitude.
Harrison set out to build a highly accurate clock that would run even on rough seas. Originally he received funding and built his first sea clock. The clock was a good proof of concept but was not yet ready for use. Unfortunately, his plans to use a clock to find longitude were not popular with the authorities at the time. Most of the other inventors working on the problem of longitude were convinced that a ships position would be best calculated from the position of the moon and stars. Although this method worked, it required hours of calculations so that a ship could never know its instantaneous position.
Eventually Harrison realized that a small watch sized clock would function better at sea then the large designs he had been using. Harrison built his sea clock and found that it was incredibly accurate. A test of Harrison’s clock was arranged Nevelin Masclin (The primary advocate of lunar calculation). Nevelin Masculin ended up dismissing Harrison’s invention. That said, after seeking the aid of King George, Harrison’s clock was finally made the leading method for calculating longitude.