This is the approach the British and several other governments took for finding a reliable way to find the longitude of a ship at sea [1]. Dava Sobel's Longitud

This is the approach the British and several other governments took for finding a reliable way to find the longitude of a ship at sea [1]. Dava Sobel's Longitude is an interesting but quick read about the problem and John Harrison's eventual solution. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_rewards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_rewards