40. Measuring Time

By the end of the 17th Century, pendulum clocks for use on land were very well developed, but there was no instrument that would keep time at sea. Without such a clock or watch, it is extremely difficult for a ship to know its position.

Contest

     The need for such a timepiece was so important that, in 1714 - through The Board of Longitude - the English Government offered a prize of $100,000.00 for a practical method of determining a ship's position. A young Englishman - by the name of John Harrison - heard about this prize and decided to try for it.

     Harrison - when only twenty-two - had made a clock out of wood. In 1728, he took some drawings of a new design to London and showed them to Graham, a noted clock-maker, who urged him to build one in metal.

     For seven years, he worked on this - and as the result of a test, he was given $2,500.00, to carry on his work. Starting in 1739 he built three more models, and in 1761 - twenty-two years later - Harrison showed The Board of Longitude his fourth model which he considered ready for actual trial.



Short Stories of Science and Invention A Collection of Radio Talks by Charles F. Kettering INDEX		*40.* *Measuring Time* By the end of the 17th Century, pendulum clocks for use on land were very well developed, but there was no instrument that would keep time at sea. Without such a clock or watch, it is extremely difficult for a ship to know its position. The need for such a timepiece was so important that, in 1714 - through The Board of Longitude - the English Government offered a prize of $100,000.00 for a practical method of determining a ship's position. A young Englishman - by the name of John Harrison - heard about this prize and decided to try for it. Harrison - when only twenty-two - had made a clock out of wood. In 1728, he took some drawings of a new design to London and showed them to Graham, a noted clock-maker, who urged him to build one in metal. For seven years, he worked on this - and as the result of a test, he was given $2,500.00, to carry on his work. Starting in 1739 he built three more models, and in 1761 - twenty-two years later - Harrison showed The Board of Longitude his fourth model which he considered ready for actual trial.