3 ms·
I suppose this is a nitpick, but what kind of timekeeping was available for this? > He kept walking, one step at a time, and hit 50 miles with four minutes and
by tedunangst 7y ago
I suppose this is a nitpick, but what kind of timekeeping was available for this?
> He kept walking, one step at a time, and hit 50 miles with four minutes and 43 seconds to spare.
My understanding of the time is that pocket watches very rarely had second hands, or maybe not even minute hands. And certainly wouldn't be expected to maintain such accuracy over a period of ten hours. What else would be available in a prison yard?
- scottlocklin 7y agoWatches were used for navigation. They also had both minute and second hands in those days; you can verify the latter by looking at them on ebay.
- wil421 7y agoJust to add watches were extremely important for sailing. Maybe as important as a compass. You need an accurate clock to calculate longitude at sea. Here’s a book I’ve been meaning to read about an eccentric guy who solved the problem[1]. [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book)