4 ms·

The crazy ideas which failed to solve the longitude problem [video]

58 points by petercooper 13y ago

bcraven 13y ago
An excellent history of the problem of longitude is detailed in the book 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel. There are great stories about the clocks leading up to the creation of H4, and many more details on the "injustice" that John Harrison felt. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4806.Longitude http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4806.Longitude
- comatose_kid 13y ago
  Yes, this was a really well written book that told the story of how Harrison, a carpenter, accomplished what even Newton thought to be impossible.
- melling 13y ago
  I highly recommend the book. His persistence is inspiring. So inspiring to me that I borrowed "H4" when I decided to create a "company" to build my mobile apps: http://www.h4labs.com http://www.h4labs.com I've been plugging away (part-time) for three years. Sometimes it feels like a long time, but when you consider that Harrison spent decades on a much harder and worthwhile problem... Anyway, if anyone wants to help me with my "sea trials", I'd appreciate it. Here's an overview of my next release: http://www.h4labs.com/design1.html http://www.h4labs.com/design1.html
- NelsonMinar 13y ago
  It's an excellent book. Even better is the Illustrated version, which adds a lot of beautiful photographs. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4805.The_Illustrated_Longitude http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4805.The_Illustrated_Long... Longitude particularly made me appreciate the craftsmanship that these inventors applied. Could you imagine spending 20 years building a single machine, not sure if it was going to work, then sending it off on a boat for 2 years and only when it comes back do you know if it worked? Makes me a bit more patient to wait 2 minutes for the test suite to run...
  - zachrose 13y ago
    That sounds kind of like the skycrane landing on Mars.
jdkram 13y ago
I can recommend, with great bias, the department Simon works at as a great place to visit full of interesting individuals passionate about their research area (History and Philosopy of Science at Cambridge University, UK). There's a wonderful wealth of interest areas ranging from sociology of scientists across time to male menstruation. We're in a world built upon layers and layers of science, technology and all of the societal context that shaped those. It's both humbling and fascinating to explore the personal narratives of the heroes and villains in our technological folklore and discover the more oddball stories like this one about the longitude problem. The museum: http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/whipple/ http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/whipple/ Public lectures at the University of Cambridge, which will run much more frequently come October: http://talks.cam.ac.uk/ http://talks.cam.ac.uk/
casca 13y ago
For more longitude geeky goodness, the Royal Maritime Museum in London has lots of material and if you're nearby, you can see the amazing Harrison clock still in action. http://www.rmg.co.uk/harrison http://www.rmg.co.uk/harrison
lmm 13y ago
Suggest a [video] tag.
jere 13y ago
If you're not familiar with the Bounty or the Pitcairn Islands, this is a fascinating (and horrific) article on them: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/01/pitcairn200801 http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/01/pitcairn2...
- NelsonMinar 13y ago
  Here's a good summary of what happened to K2, the chronometer on the Bounty. It turned out to be essential to the mutiny's settlement on Pitcairn. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/bounty-mutiny-halted-to-pilfer-timepiece/story-fnb64oi6-1226681298191 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/bounty-mutiny-hal...
  - jere 13y ago
    That sounds really interesting! Thanks. Unfortunately, that article appears to be behind a paywall. [I did find this article: http://www.winthrop.dk/chrono.html http://www.winthrop.dk/chrono.html I can't believe how interesting this stuff is and how I never managed to learn about it until recently.]
Toenex 13y ago
For me John Harrison remains one of the greatest Britons (despite coming 39th behind David Beckham and Princess Di in the 2002 poll - http://alchemipedia.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/100-greatest-britons-bbc-poll-2002.html http://alchemipedia.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/100-greatest-brit...). Whilst he wasn't the only inventor working a timepiece solution his clocks were the most robust and he continued to refine and improve his product despite certain powers working against him. The importance of seafaring to Britain cannot be overstated and this man was responsible for providing a key component of that success in many ways in spite of the country.

58 points by petercooper 13y ago

An excellent history of the problem of longitude is detailed in the book 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel. There are great stories about the clocks leading up to the creation of H4, and many more details on the "injustice" that John Harrison felt. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4806.Longitude http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4806.Longitude

comatose_kid 13y ago
Yes, this was a really well written book that told the story of how Harrison, a carpenter, accomplished what even Newton thought to be impossible.
melling 13y ago
I highly recommend the book. His persistence is inspiring. So inspiring to me that I borrowed "H4" when I decided to create a "company" to build my mobile apps: http://www.h4labs.com http://www.h4labs.com I've been plugging away (part-time) for three years. Sometimes it feels like a long time, but when you consider that Harrison spent decades on a much harder and worthwhile problem... Anyway, if anyone wants to help me with my "sea trials", I'd appreciate it. Here's an overview of my next release: http://www.h4labs.com/design1.html http://www.h4labs.com/design1.html
NelsonMinar 13y ago
It's an excellent book. Even better is the Illustrated version, which adds a lot of beautiful photographs. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4805.The_Illustrated_Longitude http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4805.The_Illustrated_Long... Longitude particularly made me appreciate the craftsmanship that these inventors applied. Could you imagine spending 20 years building a single machine, not sure if it was going to work, then sending it off on a boat for 2 years and only when it comes back do you know if it worked? Makes me a bit more patient to wait 2 minutes for the test suite to run...
- zachrose 13y ago
  That sounds kind of like the skycrane landing on Mars.

jdkram 13y ago

I can recommend, with great bias, the department Simon works at as a great place to visit full of interesting individuals passionate about their research area (History and Philosopy of Science at Cambridge University, UK). There's a wonderful wealth of interest areas ranging from sociology of scientists across time to male menstruation. We're in a world built upon layers and layers of science, technology and all of the societal context that shaped those. It's both humbling and fascinating to explore the personal narratives of the heroes and villains in our technological folklore and discover the more oddball stories like this one about the longitude problem. The museum: http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/whipple/ http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/whipple/ Public lectures at the University of Cambridge, which will run much more frequently come October: http://talks.cam.ac.uk/ http://talks.cam.ac.uk/

casca 13y ago

For more longitude geeky goodness, the Royal Maritime Museum in London has lots of material and if you're nearby, you can see the amazing Harrison clock still in action. http://www.rmg.co.uk/harrison http://www.rmg.co.uk/harrison

lmm 13y ago

Suggest a [video] tag.

jere 13y ago

If you're not familiar with the Bounty or the Pitcairn Islands, this is a fascinating (and horrific) article on them: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/01/pitcairn200801 http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/01/pitcairn2...

NelsonMinar 13y ago
Here's a good summary of what happened to K2, the chronometer on the Bounty. It turned out to be essential to the mutiny's settlement on Pitcairn. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/bounty-mutiny-halted-to-pilfer-timepiece/story-fnb64oi6-1226681298191 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/bounty-mutiny-hal...
- jere 13y ago
  That sounds really interesting! Thanks. Unfortunately, that article appears to be behind a paywall. [I did find this article: http://www.winthrop.dk/chrono.html http://www.winthrop.dk/chrono.html I can't believe how interesting this stuff is and how I never managed to learn about it until recently.]

Toenex 13y ago

For me John Harrison remains one of the greatest Britons (despite coming 39th behind David Beckham and Princess Di in the 2002 poll - http://alchemipedia.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/100-greatest-britons-bbc-poll-2002.html http://alchemipedia.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/100-greatest-brit...). Whilst he wasn't the only inventor working a timepiece solution his clocks were the most robust and he continued to refine and improve his product despite certain powers working against him. The importance of seafaring to Britain cannot be overstated and this man was responsible for providing a key component of that success in many ways in spite of the country.