300 years of Longitude

[BaalChatzaf]

In 1761Jonathan Harris received certification of his chronometer H4 from the Board of Longitude. With this clock it is possible to determine one's longitude to within half a degree.

This device made sailing the high seas safer and more predictable. It is this clock that enabled Britannia to Rule the Waves.

It was not easy for Harris to get the 20,000 pound sterling prize out of the Board of Longitude. The Board was biased in favor of academic folk but Harris was a craftsman with no pelf, titles or degrees. His bon fides were the work itself. Harris when through 4 different models before he achieved his compact chronometer.

Even today all major sailing ships carry a set of Harris type mechanical chronometers just in case radio communication fails and the GPS transponders fail. So reckoning longitude the Old Fashioned way is from from dead and gone. The first line of technology is radio direction finding (LORAN) and GPS. But a self contained mechanical clock is there for back up.

Ba'al Chatzaf