Posted by David Brawley [173.51.203.187] on Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 14:38:51 :
In Reply to: Re: "Quest for Longitude"? Nah, Bowditch. posted by Kaegi [98.247.164.246] on Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 12:50:39 :
The author of the book you're referring to is Dava Sobel and the book is fascinating if you are into history and such. The four original Harrison clocks are in the museum at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London. The first three attempts were big boxy devices of wood and brass. The one that finally worked ( number 4) looks like a silver pocket watch that's about 7 inches in diameter across its face. When you think about what it allowed the British Navy to do it was easily one the most important advances in human history. When you get right down to basics, GPS, the atomic clocks and modern long range navigation are nothing but an evolution of what Harrison was able to achieve
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