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How John Harrison Solved The Explorer’s Problem Of Longitude

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In our modern era we take for granted the ease of international travel.  We give hardly a thought to the difficulties that our ancestors faced when trying to move from one part of the globe to another.  But make no mistake:  those difficulties were very real and acted as barriers to movement.  We will consider one of the most famous of these navigational problems, the measurement of longitude.

Anyone looking at a model globe today will see it crisscrossed with encircling lines.  These are the lines of latitude and longitude.  We early on learn the difference between the two:  lines of latitude are the parallel lines that circle the globe from pole to pole like rings stacked one upon the other.  Lines of latitude are very old; Ptolemy first described them in detail in the second century A.D., and he himself was relying on earlier geographers.  Latitude is (relatively) easy for a mariner to determine; instruments like the quadrant and sextant have existed since medieval times, and they operated by measuring angles from the horizon to various celestial objects.

long2

Longitude is fundamentally different from latitude.  Lines of longitude circle the globe in the opposite direction as latitude, so that when the two lines intersect, they do so at right angles.  Longitude is connected to time.  Longitude meridians can shift.  For a sailor to know his longitude measurement at sea, he must know his own shipboard time, as well as the precise simultaneous time at another place on the globe.  Only by comparing these two times can he know where he is.

Why is this?  Since the earth takes twenty-four hours to revolve on its axis, and each revolution is three hundred sixty degrees, we can say that each hour of time difference between the two places represents fifteen degrees of longitude.  On degree of longitude represents four minutes, but the distance involved will vary from one point on the globe to another.  (A complete explanation is lengthy and need not concern us here.  Those interested can contact the writer).

So the key to unlocking longitude involves time measurements.  What seems like no big problem today was in fact a major problem in past centuries.  Clocks were large and unwieldy, most operating by pendulum.  Even the ones that could be placed aboard an oceangoing ship would not be able to record time with enough precision to make them useful.  One of the best-kept secrets of the Age of Exploration is that most of the great explorers were hopelessly lost most of the time.  They had to rely on their instincts, dead reckoning, portents, and a “feel” for the locale; but these things could only take a mariner so far.  And one could not prepare reliable charts using intuition.

And there the problem stood for many centuries.  Astronomers proposed some cumbersome solutions, but these were of limited utility.  Finally, in 1714, the British Parliament made a bold move:  it passed the Longitude Act, an initiative designed to fire the imaginations of creative minds everywhere.  It offered a huge cash reward to anyone who could devise a useful and practicable way of measuring longitude.  Specifically, the Act offered the following:  20,000 pounds for a method to calculate longitude to an accuracy of half a degree; 15,000 pounds for a method producing an accuracy within two-thirds of a degree; and 10,000 pound for a measurement within an accuracy of one degree.  (The ambitious reader can do his own calculations to see what these cash equivalents would be in 2016 British currency).

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One solitary genius named John Harrison heard the call to action and set to work.  He must rank as one of the strangest and impressive figures in British scientific history.  Born in 1693, Harrison showed an early mechanical aptitude and excelled at woodworking and carpentry.  For some reason–we do not know why–he became obsessed with clocks as a teenager, constructing his first pendulum models before the age of twenty.  Perhaps it was because such contrivances offered a suitable challenge to his talents.  His clocks were revolutionary in that they used new types of gears and wheels and could run without any lubrication by oil.  This last point would prove to be essential for making accurate chronographs at sea.

By 1736, Harrison had produced the first prototype of what would be called “H-1.” It was an imposing machine that weighed seventy-five pounds and occupied a box four feet square.  Trials of the instrument at sea showed that it kept meticulous time.  Harrison refined his frictionless clock designs in the years ahead, producing models H-2 (1741), H-3 (1759) and the beautiful H-4 (1760).  This last model was so light and portable that it could be carried by one man in the palm of his hand.  Harrison was a perfectionist and a modest man; his lack of self-promotion meant that credit for his work was late in coming.

As often happens when brilliant “amateurs” dabble in fields dominated by “professionals,” professional jealousies began to surround Harrison.  Many of the influential astronomers and mathematicians of the Royal Society (some of whom came from distinguished families) could not comprehend that a modest middle-class worker from Yorkshire could have produced such machines with no formal training, no experience, and no university degrees.  It was beyond their comprehension.  Harrison’s mere existence proved a threat to powerful interests.

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Harrison’s H-3 sea chronometer (1759)

The scientific establishment did everything it could to prevent Harrison from claiming the prize that was rightfully his.  The Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, the fifth astronomer royal, proved to be a particularly vindictive opponent.  At Maskelyne’s behest, the Longitude Board (the panel overseeing the clock testing and awarding of the prize money) dragged its feet on recognizing Harrison’s accomplishments.  Worse still, the Board changed the rules of the game whenever it felt like it.  Harrison had made the establishment professionals look like fools and they were determined to punish him for it.

But truth cannot be suppressed for long.  It will always find a way to reveal itself.  Harrison’s sea-clocks proved their worth; Captain Cook himself carried one on his famous voyages.  But after decades of delayed recognition, Harrison was finally granted an audience with King George III himself in Windsor Castle.  (In this drama, even the partially insane have a role to play).  Harrison (with his son) was finally able to explain to the king all the wrongs he had suffered at the hands of the bureaucrats and authorities.  George III was said to have been outraged by Harrison’s shabby treatment, and was determined to resolve the matter.  “By God, Harrison, I will see you righted!” he told Harrison’s son William.

In 1773, Harrison finally was able to claim the prize that was rightfully his.  It was a supreme moment in the history of justice as well as of science.

Read More: 20 Things Deeply Wrong With Australia

67 thoughts on “How John Harrison Solved The Explorer’s Problem Of Longitude”

    2. Whoa. That picture went around and actually was sent to me by people who don’t know who Roosh is and just sent it due to the joke.
      I can’t say that I recognized him either, and probably wouldn’t have if not for your comment getting me to cross-ref it.

  2. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2511longitude.html
    Interestingly he did three pendulum based clocks then gave up (after learning how to temperature compensate things – too bad he never used Antimony which has a negative coefficient of thermal expansion). He ended up with a spring driven mechanism (a wonderful feat of engineering) when he figured out he could not compensate pendulums for the centrifugal force when ships travelled in arcs – which introduced a small but cumulative error.

  3. The ambitious reader can do his own calculations to see what these cash equivalents would be in 2016 British currency.
    I believe £10,000 in 1714 is the equivalent to approximately £1,600,000 today. ($2,000,000) (2.4 billion Iraqi Dinar)
    Seems they were mighty serious about measuring longitude.
    Unfortunately, I was merely curious, not necessarily ambitious. So, I ruined it for the truly ambitious. Such is life. Sorry. Assuming I’m reasonably correct in the calculation.

  4. I have zero problems in the “long”-itude department, if you catch my drift. (“Arrrghhhh, shiver me timbers, nyuck-nyuck,” etc.)
    As an aside, your old Uncle Bob drilled the 7th bowl game today, in ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Mania. That makes six out of seven games predicted correctly (for the winner, including two major upsets.) This moved me up about 600 spots to No. 776 on the leader board (out of over a million entries), top 0.30 percentile.
    And unlike the guys in the Top 50 or so positions (who shot their wads on the first seven games, giving all of them the highest-possible weight), my highest-rated games are yet to come. It’s a marathon, not a sprint (just like life). I’m gonna catch most of ’em at the wire. Yee-haw! Giddyup, hoss! I’ll keep you posted – 35 games to go..

  5. I have no problems in the “long”-itude department, if you catch my drift. (“Arrrghhhh, shiver me timbers, nyuck-nyuck,” etc.)
    As an aside, your old Uncle Bob drilled the 7th bowl game today, in ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Mania. That makes six out of seven games predicted correctly (for the winner, including two major upsets.) This moved me up about 600 spots to No. 776 on the leader board (out of over a million entries), top 0.30 percentile.
    And unlike the guys in the Top 50 or so positions (who shot their wads on the first seven games, giving all of them the highest-possible weight), the majority of my highest-rated games are yet to come. It’s a marathon, not a sprint (just like life). I’m gonna catch most of ’em at the wire. Yee-haw and giddyup! I’ll keep you posted – 35 games to go..
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0ebc157a9d5eb526a57a8559a374b85f3fdefa49aa7087969198a0b232d5f353.jpg

  6. An amazing tale about a man and his ventures that I have not, as of yet, heard. This is no small feat. Well done Quintus.

  7. Interesting trivia: the Harrison K2 chronometer was on HMS Bounty at the time of the famous mutiny. Fletcher Christian saved the device and it passed through several “owners” before ending up in the British Museum.

  8. cool fact: A person walks normally at 2 mph. You can walk around the Earth in one day . . . . if you’re 8 miles from the North Pole and if you remain walking on the same exact latitudinal position. You cross longitudinal lines very quickly when you’re 8 miles from the north pole. (Pi)x8x2 = 50.24miles. Roughly a 2.1mph walk.
    Another cool fact: A supersonic plane travelling 1000mph westward at the equator isn’t moving – the Earth is. Travelling eastward it’s going 2000mph in space.
    Also scantly true: The angle of the dangle is equal to the square of the hair times the heat of the meat divided by the torque on the pork provided that the lotion between the motion of the ass cheeks remains constant
    Also a warning. I’m almost hesitant to post this but I leave it as a caution for ROK travellers to heed: Large faraway celestial objects viewed in a convex rear view mirror
    http://www.theindependentbd.com/assets/news_images/Astronomers-searching.jpg
    may be closer than they appear
    http://lacocinadebender.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/carnes-14.jpg

    2. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6e68a3da75dae088d450498dd1b6cc1dd94de280c012babdd828ef03b526ecbc.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6260f6c56ec5f8aa2e668b3bbb883ce3b12b78b36aa2f8c296434aae3172b831.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3677b8bf957e050d1918ebcc924f7803a07a552ccbc8dabd3c1943683629a7ba.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d90c5cd2a3b7646c5a02b1ead9c8d9143c558eb9b93ba36295181b555a32f1b.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6d3321b28d74e41810bd4a679d74deb4b647507968d703edf26021e172267cdc.png

    4. “Another cool fact: A supersonic plane travelling 1000mph westward at the equator isn’t moving – the Earth is. Travelling eastward it’s going 2000mph in space.”
      Huh? If that were the case planes would never cross the Atlantic Ocean from London to NY. The air mass moves together with the Earth rotation. But maybe you meant from a point in space or something or as a funny paradox-like riddle?

    5. Mr. McGoo refers to relative velocity, exactly from “a point in space.” In this particular example, he is referring to the reference point relative to the sun. A plane moving against the earth’s rotation at 1000 mph cancels out the speed of rotation of the planet, so, relative to a non-rotating point of reference at the center of the planet, it is not moving. Now, if a plane were flying a course slightly offset towards the earth’s orbital plane, and would fly effectively 1000 mph against the rotation, and 18.5 mph against the orbit, the plane would be motionless relative to the sun. I don’t happen to know the movement of the solar system relative to the galaxy, or the galaxy relative to the universe, and that’s assuming the universe is the only thing out there.

    6. toilet paper…uhhhhhhh…….how doe……..but……….washin………antideod………….hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
      forget it, not happening

  9. In case anybody missed it, the Electoral College has officially made Donald Trump the winner of the 2016 presidential election…it’s now a totally done deal.

    1. It’s not quite over yet, not until Congress officially counts the votes on 1/6/17 and “Uncle” Joe Biden announces that The Donald is #45.
      *Technically, Congress could pass a law changing this date. (edit)
      I wouldn’t put it past certain folks out there to move to crazier schemes of sabotage, off the top of my head things like:
      1) appealing the Archivist of the United States to try and invalidate the votes from certain states as they’re received
      2) conspiring to make it so that the certificate of those votes doesn’t reach the Archivist within the 9 day time period mandated by law.
      3) Having Representatives & Senators object to the EC vote

      1. I think those things might be, or will be, attempted, as a smoke-and-mirrors sideshow. Have to wait and see. But Trump’s a done deal. I think a lot of this is a psyop, trying to rile up the Hillary side yet again, for a major letdown, and trying to rile the Trump side up again, for what will be ultimate victory…

      2. The constitution mandates the president to be sworn in on January 20th, if they don’t get the count done by then, the Supreme court will probably just end up over riding them. Congress has zero effect on the outcome of the presidential election, the only time they do is if no candidate gets more than 50% of the electoral votes.

        1. Congress still has the power to affect the election, Congress critters can challenge the votes submitted by states (which can lead to the votes from those states being discounted), as well as the vote count itself.
          Congress still could force a “12th Amendment Election”. They’d be fools to do so but if enough of ’em were in cahoots they could.
          20th Amendment says that if there has been no POTUS chosen by 1/20, VPOTUS serves as POTUS until one is chosen…and if there’s no VPOTUS chosen either, Congress simply picks the POTUS itself until a “real” POTUS is picked…by Congress.

        2. “Congress critters can challenge the votes submitted by states”
          Citation?
          “(which can lead to the votes from those states being discounted), as well as the vote count itself.
          Congress still could force a “12th Amendment Election”.”
          A 12th amendment election is for again, when no candidate receives more than half the electoral vote. In no part of the US constitution is the Congress given the right to withhold, null, void, invalidate, whatever you want to call it – electoral votes. Even if congress attempted to do this, do you really believe that it would stand up to court?

        3. Congress can and has challenged the electoral college vote total as well as votes submitted from individual states. Most recently during Dubya’s election. Wikipedia conveniently lists the historical highlights.
          The legalese enabling this challenging is found in the United States Code. The relevant section in this link to the US Archives is the textwall that is Section 15.
          The court would be irrelevant. Judicial < Congress, and it is the job of the POTUS to enforce the law (cue apocryphal Andrew Jackson quote).

        4. You do realize that the date used to be in March. The constitution is very amenable to being changed if enough people want to change it. Remember that when it comes to your freedom of speech and your right to bear arms. Hate speech laws are just censorship. “Sensible” gun legislation to prevent gun violence will do nothing to stop gun violence, but will disarm law abiding citizens.

        5. “You do realize that the date used to be in March.”
          Okay? This doesn’t change what I said. The fact is, there is a set date, the constitutions had to be amended to move it form march to January.
          “The constitution is very amenable to being changed if enough people want to change it. Remember that when it comes to your freedom of speech and your right to bear arms. Hate speech laws are just censorship. “Sensible” gun legislation to prevent gun violence will do nothing to stop gun violence, but will disarm law abiding citizens.”
          Okay? What are you trying to tell me? I already know these things.

        6. “Congress can and has challenged the electoral college vote total as well as votes submitted from individual states. Most recently during Dubya’s election.” No, a few congress men raised objections to some electoral votes, and there objections were immediately struck down. The only time any electoral votes have actually been discounted was Louisiana and Arkansas in 1872.

        8. I don’t disagree with your assertion that a Congressional vote could happen, I disagree with your statement that Congressmen can just make completely baseless objections to electoral votes.

        9. Even though you’ve seen the account of just that happening with Al Gore’s election? o_0
          It’s right there in the USC, the objections can be made and the only ones who determine whether or not they’re “baseless” are the other Congressmen.
          So, if there were to be an objection to the overall vote, it could actually invoke the 20th Amendment if enough Congress critters get behind it.
          Same goes for casting out the votes from certain states. Denying votes to invoke the 12th and then stalling to invoke the 20th so that Congress gets to appoint its own POTUS, with no restrictions, for an indefinite term of service is indeed possible.
          Until Joe Biden says it is over, it ain’t over. It’s not likely, I admit, that there’ll be a Congressional coup by the neverTrumpers, but it doesn’t hurt to keep your guard up for a few more days.

        1. I don’t know, but I’m glad it does.
          The only thing that would’ve made this better is if Biden had run for POTUS and had been beaten by Trump, just like Al Gore was.
          Al Gore having to announce Dubya’s victory over him to the world twice was top kek.

    2. I find it obsurd that a dumb cunt, Jill stein, that recieved less than %1 of the vote felt she had the right to overturn an election result.
      Who does this dumb skank think she is?
      Perhaps the dumbest bag of shit to ever “run” for president.
      Paul Joseph Watson sums it up nicely. This guy is cool!

      1. I agree, she’s a twat. My sister is like her. She has been posting articles on Facebook about “Let’s demand a recount” and “Let’s stop Trump at the Electoral College”. She’s an obsessed liberal Democrat. She can’t believe Hillary lost and there is no way to put her in office. Heh. I think she’s part of a group that numbers in the tens of millions. They are delusional.

        2. Please tell me you’re tormenting her!
          Here’s my suggested commentary for you Bob:
          Sister: “I can’t believe HRC isn’t president she’s so awesome! You’re a racist for voting Trump!”
          Bob: “If you don’t like it move to Mexico!”
          Sister: “My Gawwwd you’re such an asshole.”
          Bob: “STFU bitch or I’ll push you over the wall myself and make America “quieter and thinner!”

        3. I’ve been cut from a long-time “friends” Christmas card list over this!
          D’phuc is wrong with these people?!?!

        6. On the positive side, you get to rid yourself of the dead weight of attachment to such people in your life.

        1. Totally, not sure on the amount but I’m sure it’s in the millions. I bet she’s bought a new cottage in New Hampshire already..
          I’d like to see Anne Coulter beat her good!!

  10. A friend passed me Dava Sobel’s book, ‘Longitude: The True Story Of A Lone Genius Who Solved The Greatest Scientific Problem Of His Time’ to read a few years ago. Very fascinating & well written introduction on the subject of longitude and John Harrison himself.
    As someone who still uses and teaches the use of a topographical map and orienteering compass for outdoor expeditions and offshore work, I enjoyed another well written article on the subject.
    Still have the occasional problem with working out those pesky magnetic declination calculations though.

  11. “Finally, in 1714, the British Parliament made a bold move: it passed the Longitude Act, an initiative designed to fire the imaginations of creative minds everywhere.”
    You mean the government led to innovation? But weight, I thought Conservatives don’t believe the government can innovate?

    1. The government did not innovate. It used funds collected for advancing the public good to tap into the innovation of the private sector for that purpose.
      Government science on its own is a failure. The government announcing “we’ll pay handsomely he who solves this problem for the public good” equals success.

      1. Also note that the government bureaucrats did their worst to try and hamper the guy that did the innovation.

    2. They don’t and they didn’t. All they did was provide the prize money to get private individuals to innovate as in this case with Harrison. And you say it yourself “the government led to innovation”. By your own admission they do not innovate but only lead to others innovation.

    4. Government didn’t innovate. Government just put up money to reward individual enterprise(you know, instead of regulating it to death).

      1. That is still the government contributing to innovation.
        “you know, instead of regulating it to death”
        You know, laissez faire nuts like to bring this up so often, yet I can’t think of a single industry that was ever literally killed by regulation.

  12. Wonderful, and accurate essay.
    Dava Sobel has the book “Longitude”. Highly recommend.
    Read it while sailing thru Tahiti.
    Cook had one on his 2nd voyage.
    My most memorable line from his log
    “…keeping time to a nicety..”
    Of course he was referring to the Tahitian women dancing…

  13. “For some reason–we do not know why–he became obsessed with clocks as a teenager, constructing his first pendulum models before the age of twenty. ”
    The original Clock Boy

  14. If John Harrison could only solve the problem of more efficient battery storage in 2016 …

  16. ” Lines of longitude circle the globe in the opposite direction as latitude, so that when the two lines intersect”
    Sorry to be a nit but shouldn’t that be perpendicular direction rather than opposite?

  17. You won’t see Hollywood producing a movie on the world-changing accomplishments of a white male, John Harrison. Yet we have to endure a propaganda piece about 3 black — pardon me, African American — women being lauded as the heroes of the space program.
    Their contribution? They performed the functions of a cheap calculator you can pick up for a few bucks any drugstore — a calculator invented by, perfected by and originally produced by white males, with the same inventiveness as Harrison. Same goes for the men who designed, built and flew the spacecraft and ran the program that gave those 3 women a job in the first place.
    The Mercury 7 had “The Right Stuff” and risked life and limb to sit atop unreliable explosion-prone missiles. These 3 risked breaking a nail or running a stocking as they endured sex and race inequality in a white-male world. Oooooh. My heroes!

  19. “The scientific establishment did everything it could to prevent Harrison from claiming the prize that was rightfully his.”
    It’s sad that some clever young man like Harrison can’t come along and invent better academics.

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