Longitude

"Finding the Longitude" - A fresh look at the story of John Harrison versus Nevil Maskelyne and of position fixing at sea.

[EricBishard]

I'm so glad I stayed for the end, what a nice little bonus to see those two beauties

[stephenarbon]

A beautifully clear & concise documentary.

[PifflePrattle]

People like stories involving heroes and villains.
I'm sure there's a moral in this excellent production applicable to a wide range of subjects.

[johnnyarsenault]

Really appreciated your presentation of your copies of time keeping as to have a physical idea of their size. Beautifully crafted they are 👌❤️👍

[hippopotamus]

Excellent narration, most informative.

[heinpereboom]

Wonderful explanation of this history!
Here again it turns out that mechanical things are much more complicated than they seem.

Even the Cristiaan Huijgens had not understood that a pendulum clock with a gimbal suspension and a weight below only makes the clock hang vertically and does not work at all in a ship, because of the displacement of the suspension point in the ship when it swings.

It is very special that such beautiful clocks could be made long ago, they are precious possessions.

[peterhall]

What a ripping yarn! I read Sobel's book and wondered about all the skullduggery that would have gone on given the stakes. Most students today know nothing about spherical geometry but in those days they had to perform complex trigonometrical calcuations by hand with log tables. Imagine doing that on a rolling ship in bad light etc etc. This was an astonishing time when men did things with their bare hands. I am gobsmacked by the able seaman who manufactured a spring. What a guy!

[robertfarquharson]

Thanks! I’d only heard of the Sobel style narrative of Harrison as the underappreciated genius. Very interesting.

[FredMiller]

Wonderfully presented. As a student of Celestial Navigation and an X USCG sailor I can appreciate what these gentlemen did to try to solve the Longitude problem!

[MrMidiman]

Great film Steve, really enjoyed it. I think your perspective on the Maskelyne Vs Harrison relationship is spot on. I can't help thinking the John Jeffrey's watch/contribution is significantly underplayed too.

[jacksondouglas]

Great video. I had my first encounter with the longitude problem when I was a teenager trying to measure the longitude of our small amateur observatory, here in Chile. I´m an admirer of John Harrison !

[MK-gemh]

Wonderful work you've done! I've enjoyed this immensely, sir. I too agree with your take on their relationship. Maskelyne was simply being pragmatic and worked on the solution from another angle. It was important that each solution complement, verify, and validate the other. Both men truly understood the import of finding a solution, as many lives depended on such. I've read through book and seen the movie. I've had my doubts that men of such education and charged with obtaining a solution to so serious a problem, would scoff at Harrison even after such progress he made.

[evanofelipe]

I first discovered Rupert Gould’s book on the Determination of Longitude in 1975 and was immediately captivated by the extraordinary story of John Harrison’s immense struggle for recognition of his genius and overdue payment of Queen Ann’s £20, 000 reward. I later read Dava Sobel’s book ‘Longitude’ it is a good read, but lacked the ‘hands on’ experience and personal commitment of Gould. Without doubt, apart from being a thing of beauty Harrison’s invention helped save the lives of countless sailors before the invention of GPS. It’s a story that deserves to be told through time immemorial.

[AHBdV]

A fantastically nuanced story. That's the problem with books and TV about one person... there always this tendency to over dramatise it, and make it a battle between good and evil. Its good to have someone show some other perspectives.

[MontyVierra]

This debate and the book/film to which you are responding are both new to me.

I think you've done a superb job of explaining the controversy in language that is both accessible to the layman yet scholarly in tone and in content. The visual presentation is also excellent.

Thank you!

[MrHerbsandspices]

An awesome informative video, thank you.

[daniyalrazakazmi]

I just finished reading the book!!! It's fascinating story!
I'm currently doing Masters in GNSS and I feel more appreciation to the longitude problem!

[rysacroft]

Many years ago, before GPS, I set sail on on a yacht form Falmouth UK bound for the the Canary islands and then on to the Panama canal.
Our destination was the West west of Canada. But due to the Southey storm force wind we had to turn around.
In those days was a system were they would transmit Morse code from stations either side of the English channel.Using a direction finder, in theory, you could work out your position.
After three days of being blown North we were completely lost.
It's a miracle that we got back!

[chrismac]

In fairness the Egyptians were the source pre euclid. Great little video

[jimadams]

Very nice vid. As a schoolboy I used to spend my lunch-hours playing football or visiting the National Maritime Museum and The Observatory.
I loved watching the large clocks - the movements were beautiful and mesmerizing. And at that time, they were all fully working.
(The "pocket" watches were less interesting to me - no visible moving parts as far as I remember).