Longitude

Like Gutenberg, and unlike some of the other self-taught inventive geniuses who spring to mind (like Franklin, Edison and Tesla), John Harrison was not a catholic inventor: his speciality was time. He did, though, draw from the fields of metallurgy, cabinetry and mechanics to find unconventional materials and techniques, and with what can be seen either as impossible optimism or sheer stubbornesss, Harrison managed to solve a problem which had killed thousands of his countrymen. By applying and extending the time-keeping technology of his time, he invented a means by which ships at sea could reliably determine their own longitude, and the story of how he did it ranks with any of the great dramas of science. Dava Sobel tells that story in Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.

Longitude author Dava Sobel pages 184 publisher Penguin rating 8.5 reviewer timothy ISBN 0140258795 summary Inventive genius rethinks the calculation of time and revolutionizes navigation.

A vexing problem, a golden fleece Specifically, from the age of around 30 (though Sobel points out that the time of his birth is only known within a few years), Harrison devised a series of time-keeping devices designed to keep time with accuracy orders of magnitude more accurate than the water, spring and pendulum-driven clocks of the day. The ferocity and diligence with which he wore down the technical gremlins conspiring to throw clocks off by seconds or minutes a day demonstrates a personal dedication as intense as those of the Las Alamos scientists laboring to forge the atomic bomb. Like those men, Harrison had something else in mind besides the joy of invention -- he was determined to win a prize which in modern money would mean millions of dollars, not to mention the prestige of royal recognition.

That prize (in the amount of 20,000 pounds) was set forth in a 1714 act of Parliament for anyone who could provide a practical method for ships at sea to determine their latitude to within half a degree.

With a clear sky and a sextant, finding latitude is relatively easy. Once it was widely accepted that the earth was a globe spinning about an axis perpindicular to the equator, the rest was (to our modern viewpoint) a piece of cake: locate a star (Polaris, at least in the Northern Hemisphere) which approximates an extension of that axis of spin, note the apparent angle from an observer's horizon, and perform some simple trigonometry. The problem with finding longitude is that no such simple trick exists.

By constructing elaborate star charts which correlate observed lunar and stellar positions, it was hypothesized (and eventually demonstrated in practice) that longitude could be determined using a complicated process of observing the sky (only at night, and only on a clear enough night to observe, of course), then comparing the stellar observations with a log of previous observations compiled by astronomers over a lunar-orbit cycle of 18 years. Though cumbersome, the amazine thing is that enough observations were compiled for this method of longitude determination to not only catch on, but for the charts to remain in continuous repair and revision until 1907. So desperate were navigators of the time to know where on the globe they sailed, even this tricky means was better than none at all.

Earthly contention A deftly-woven substory -- and perhaps really the main story -- is of the rivalry between the astronomers and the clockmakers, both in general and specifically in the case of Harrison and the man who turns out to be in parts both his competitor and his his judge, astronomer Nevil Maskelyne. For the early years of the race for a longitude method, the star-watchers held favor, as their methods were seen as purer and more reliable than those of the craftsmen whose tiny mechanisms were subject to mishandling as well as corrosion and other seagoing inevitabilities. Of all the entrants in this high-stakes race, Maske and Harrison represented probably the best (or at least the best-positioned) of each camp, so their struggles and the eventual outcome are particularly significant.

The culmination of Harrison's work came after 4 generations of refinement, a pocket-sized device, the appearance of which is at once antique and surprisingly modern. And (what should come no surprise), the Harrison chronometer keep startlingly accurate time -- good enough to comfortably meet the requirements of sought-after practicable longitude system. For reasons that make the book worth reading, collecting on that prize was anything but simple.

Reactions: As I read this book on the subway, I found myself nodding and grinning, and at times frowning obediently at the evil-landlord melodrama of Harrison vs. Maskelyne. The story of the unschooled inventor toppling the expectations and machinations of a well-connected science establishment isn't just interesting -- it's positively inspiring. It's hard not to know the eventual outcome just a few pages in, but Sobel keeps the story interesting by loosing the particulars slowly, revealing in turn setbacks and triumphs.

Though Sobel doesn't address this issue explicitly, the magnitude of the longitude prize and the thoroughly bureaucratic, arbitrary behavior of at least some of its keepers also raise the issue of state-funded science in general, and made me think of the moon race, mass immunizations and and everyone's favorite giant global network, no matter who invented it.

Longitude is also interesting for what it says about the transfer of information and ideas (if not technolgy itself) which went on in the time before today's Information Age.

Some more praise dressed up as complaint: The only gripe I have with this book is hardly fair, given it's brevity. But here it is: a few pages of illustrations and more detailed annotations (even an associated Web site) would make the book as much a starting point as a destination. While the reader-friendly avoidance of picayune detail is probably a wise compromise -- I know I appreciated it!, I do wish the book had a few pages at least of additional technical information. The glossy illustrations on and inside the front cover are some consolation at least, since they're good photographs (if small) on a nice glossy surface. That such an ommision is noticeable speaks well of this book -- most books leave me wishing they were shorter, not longer.

You can order this book from ThinkGeek.

Comments

As seen on TV

[Rupert]

There's been a show on this (maybe a Nova episode) on PBS that I've caught the tail end of a couple of times. Pretty good, although I'm sure the book, while short, has more details.

There are some interesting parallels to today. I shall try and remember this the next time I tell someone that their idea can't possibly work, or that computers will never be able to .

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Re:As seen on TV

[istartedi]

I enjoyed the TV show. They plot-shift between Harrison's life and the life of a 20th century enthusiast who restored the clocks. One of the underlying themes is that they were both obsessed with the project to the point of destroying their personal lives. One might take it as a cautionary tale for today's computer professionals. If you don't mind the plot-shifting, it's good but rather long. I think it might have been 3 hours.

based on the NOVA episode

[Lumpish Scholar]

It was a great book, based on a great epsiode of NOVA.

Re:based on the NOVA episode

[michael.creasy]

Closer to four years now. All based on a conference the author attended, made some notes and then wrote them up in to the book. She came very close to being sued for plagarism.

Re:based on the NOVA episode

[dublin]

I'd like to see some documentation for this allegation. In the Introduction in Sobel and Andrewes' The Illustrated Longitude (I recommend this version, which is the excellent original Sobel text with the addition of hundreds of beautifully printed photographs, maps, diagrams, and paintings), Sobel states how she came up with the concept for the book:

Will (Andrewes, coauthor of The Illustrated Longitude) and I met each other over an exhibit of astrolabes at Chicago's Adler Planetarium in February 1992, but the subject soon turned to longitude. Will, as curator of Harvard University's Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, invited me, a science writer, to report on the Longitude Symposium he planned to host nearly two years later in Cambridge Massachusetts. I hoped to attend the three-day event and write an article about it for a populat magazine... After months of unsuccessful petitioning, I finally found a home for my idea at Harvard Magazine just a few days before the symposium started."

This would tend to strongly indicate that your allegations of "plagiarism" are based on false information, especially since you provide no source or supporting evidence for your assertion, and it appears that she began work on the project well in advance of the Nova episode.

A few comments of my own:

Anyway, this is an excellent book, as is Sobel's newer work, Galileo's daughter, a fascinating look at the life of the genius through the surviving letters of his daughter to the great man. You come away convinced that she was fully as impressive as he was, and the book offers great insights into the complex politics and culture of Italy at one of the most interesting moments in its history.

Writing engaging history is not always easy, but Sobel is a master of the craft - despite the intrigue of the setting, it's no stretch to say that Longitude would likely have been yet another dry and soulless scholarly tome in the hands of a lesser writer. This book should be required reading for anyone that seriously considers themselves a technologist, and the Cinderella/Underdog aspect of the story has been rarely matched. (The better-than-real movie, Tucker, a Man and his Dream comes to mind as something as good in this regard, but its Hollywood exaggeration weakens it some.)

By the way, if you haven't seen the A&E Movie based on Longitude, I'd recommend spending a few hours on it the next time it's on. (Or see if it's in the video stores - I don't know, having not rented a video in years.)

Finally, anyone who likes this sort of thing should very seriously consider subscribing to American Heritage's magazine Invention and Technology, which has all sorts of interesting articles about the history and impact of teechnology.

Re:based on the NOVA episode

[michael.creasy]

The allegations of plagarism were made in the trade magazine "Bookseller", I have no idea which issue or when as I no longer work in the industry.

I think there was an Illistrated version

[Zachary Kessin]

I remember seeing it in a bookstore, it may have been in the UK. It was a wonderful book and a facinating story of the problem of the 17th century.

I recomend this one.

The Cure of the ills of Democracy is more Democracy.

See the video -- it's pretty good

[Reality Master 101]

A&E did a big production of the book that was pretty good. You can order VHS or DVD direct from A&E's web site.

It showed a lot of the old mechanisms that were very cool. The early models were huge, which big ol' stabilization systems. You don't realize how hard the problem was until you see him go through all the early trials of trying to keep a clock accurate on a ship that is bobbing up and down and weaving all over the place.

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Nerds from any age

[MojiDoji]

Biographies like this one are stories of the true nerd. The guys who could hack before free information was readily available are the true masters. In this day and age, it's so simple to become a "geek" that "geekdom" is hardly anything special. It's just too easy.

Re:Nit

[Kotetsu]

Actually, no it isn't. To quote from Webster's Collegiate Dictionary:

catholic 1: Comprehensive; Universal; broad in sympathies, tastes or interests

For once, a Slashdot editor does something literate and he gets flamed for it by those who miss it. BTW - I'm replying to your post because your the only one who obthered to log in. Why waste time replying to AC's.

A little quibble with the subtitle

[hubie]

I believe that what was solved was the greatest engineering problem of the time, not scientific. Everyone knew that you needed an accurate timepiece, it was just that no one knew how to build one that worked on a ship.

Re:A little quibble with the subtitle

[dublin]

Well, while Harrison's immensely superior solution used an engineering approach, one could argue that the problem itself was indedd of a scientific nature, but I think you're splitting hairs here anyway - Engineering is simply useful science.

Of course I'm an engineer, why do you ask? :-)

John Harrison: 1st Open Source Inventor?

[multipartmixed]

You can read more about John Harrison here.

Anyhow, to make a long story short, I found it interesting that the British government required him to explain the workings of H4 to a panel of scientists (etc) in order to pass the knowledge of how it worked on to the public.

The article I've quoted mentions that his endowment made him the first recepient of a government research grant -- and the government had the sense to make sure he published the inner workings before paying him.

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Re:John Harrison: 1st Open Source Inventor?

[jelson]

The last thing that Harrison wanted to do was give away the farm, but the Longitude Board forced him to for a simple reason: the invention would have been useless without knowing how it worked.

Consider the problem that the Board was facing: they had a fleet of hundreds of ships that were in desperate need of reliable navigation. What good does one clock do you? As brilliant as a mechanical engineer as Harrison was, the burden was on him not to create just an instance of an accurate clock, but a method of reliably building accurate clocks in the quantity needed.

When I read Longitude I really thought the author gave the Longitude Board the short end of the stick. She painted a picture of an evil board that was trying to delay awarding the prize for no reason other than spite. While there was undoubtedly spite involved on the part of some people such as Maskelyne, I think the Board was exercising due diligence by asking Harrison to test the clock on numerous occasions, build replicas, teach other people how to build replicas, etc. A unique and unreproducible clock would have been almost as useless as no clock at all!

Great book; pictures of clocks are on the Web

[Anonymous Coward]

Longitude was a great read, and I thought it was wonderful that a book essentially about engineering was so widely read. The book was inspired by the "Longitude Symposium" held in 1993. That symposium has to get the award for the snazziest proceedings ever: (they came out a couple years after the book) The Quest for Longitude : The Proceedings of the Longitude Symposium Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts November 4-6, 1993. William J. H. Andrewes (Editor). You can see some pictures of Harrison's machines at Britain's National Maritime Museum , but Dava Sobel is a much better storyteller, so you'll enjoy reading Longitude more if you avoid reading the text at the museum site. On the other hand, the story of Rupert Gould, who restored Harrison's clocks, isn't told in Sobel's book. It was told in an awful soapumentary on cable this fall, but four hours was far far too long.

A&E

[b1nd0x]

Just giving the obligatory reference to the A&E documentary based on this story and, i presume, this book. You can get the movie (VHS&DVD) at A&E. Most notably, from the A&E store, we have this:

The Illustated Version of Longitude

"enriched with 178 lavish illustrations--including portraits, maps and scientific illustrations--complete with expansive, elegant captions that illuminate and expand upon the captivating story." Also available for a tad cheaper at amazon, i.e. shop around.

So basically, if we weren't so focused on cross promotion with thinkgeek, the one major criticism is moot ey?

arrrtttttttthhuuuuuuurrrrr

Re:Eh?

[MikeBabcock]

Catholicism, the religion, is indeed capitalised. The name "Catholic" was chosen by the Catholic Church because it meant "universal". They were thus stating "We are the universal Church".

The word catholic, on the other hand, is just a word that means universal or complete.

Illustrated version

[DeepDarkSky]

I bought and read the book a couple of years ago when it first came out and liked it very much.

There's an illustrated version of the book which I wish they would've put out in the first place. The illustrated version, I believe, came out around the same the TV version featured on Nova, a pretty good little cross-marketing effort.

It's good. I highly recommend it.

Exhibit at Royal Observatory

[aldheorte]

There is an excellent exhibit of time and Harrison's work, including several of the clocks at different stages in evolution, at the Royal Observatory in Greenwhich, England. If you think his work is impressive from reading the book, you should see some of his contraptions in person!

I visited the Royal Observatory

[swm]

I visited the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England a few weeks ago. It's a museum now. There were two displays that caught my eye.

• A GPS receiver, running, battery powered, LCD display, showing

  0 0.0145' W longitude

  or about 35 feet off of the prime meridian. (Well, that's where it was...)
• A 4 foot cast iron cylinder, with glass caps, a pendulum inside, a vacuum pump and assorted other machinery outside. The plaque explained that this was the standard high-precision timepiece used in the Soviet Union through the 1970s? 1980s? (I forget the exact date; it was quote recent) by TV stations, and radio stations, or anyplace else that needed to know the correct time.

  The plaque was tactful about it, but what it basically said was that the Soviets used these monsters because they could build a vacuum chamber, and they couldn't build a quartz clock...

One of the Greatest inventors of his century

[grandmofftarkin]

Make no mistake only by reading this book can you fully understand what this man achieved.

Firstly as far as history documents he had no formal training. He built clocks that were superior by orders of magnitude. And in order to achieve this he had to invent many of the components from scratch. I'm sure many of you will be surprised to know that this guy even invented the ball bareing in an atempt to make his clocks more friction free. Only when you read the book do you really understand the impact this man has had on modern living.

_Two_ non-Catholic meanings of "catholic"

[fatphil]

Everyone previously has stated that catholic means universal. I for instance remember reciting things about being a catholic church even though we were C. of E.

However, a second meaning is the one seems more prevalent nowadays. That is "liberal". As in catholic tastes.

The two are a bit more closely related if you view them both as being not narrow-minded nor bigoted.

However, the "liberal" definition is probably the most likely in-brain translation that would take place in modern day Britain.

FP.

Great book, part of our work library.

[dmorin]

The few pictures alone explain more about the sort of leap of genius that happens in the tech world than anything the words could say. Evolution versus revolution, clearly described. The only problem I had with the book was I found the ending fairly anti- climatic. The story she spends most of the time telling is sort of done about 3/4 the way through and I didn't really care about the rest.

This is a killer book

[selectspec]

A wonderful quick read. Its amazing how the guy invents the thing, and gets no credit until he's almost dead.

Fascinating Book

[Robotech_Master]

I've only read a chapter or so of it, but I watched the Nova presentation (click here for transcript or here to find it in PBS's online shop for $19.95 on VHS) and plan to get around to it sooner or later. For the truly geeky, it is also available for Palm or WinCE via Peanut Press.

My father, a clockmaker himself, enjoyed the book enough that he immediately had me look up Dava Sobell's address via an Internet phone book, just so he could thank her for it directly. This startled me at the time, because I had no idea he knew such a thing was possible. :) I haven't seen the A&E version yet, but it stars Jeremy Irons so it must be good. I mean, how could a movie starring Jeremy Irons be bad?
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twice adapted to television

[Lumpish Scholar]

The book (or at least its subject) has been made into a 1998 episode of NOVA (here is the Internet Movie Database entry; there's also a transcript on the PBS Web site), and a made-for-TV movie (starring Jeremey Irons) by A&E.

(Sorry for my previous erroneous post. There have been books made from NOVA episodes; I believe Simon Singh, author of The Code Book, adapted the 1997 episode on Fermat's Theorem into a 1998 book.)

Re:Good book, but out ages ago!

[Kevin T.]

Yes, next week on slashdot.org:

+Book reviews: _Origin of the Species_ by Charles Darwin and _Caves of Steel_ by Isaac Asimov.
+Technology: preview of Microsoft's "Windows 95."
+United States: analysis and discussion of the Clinton-Dole election results.

Timothy, please understand: I mock you because you have the gall to think slashdot readers haven't heard of an international bestseller that came out five years ago.

Re:Eh?

[dublin]

The word "catholic" means roughly, "universal". And the capitalizaiton is not a mistake, since the little c means implies this meaning, while "Catholic" carries the implied word "Roman" prepended to it.

This is why even us staunch Calvinists have no trouble affirming the Apostles creed, which contains a stement of belief in the catholic church, in spite of the fact that we have significant differences with the Roman church dating back to Martin Luther.

The originals are still running

[rjnerd]

You can see the actual timepeices, IN OPERATION at the observatory in Greenwich. You can get there on the tube, or by taking one of the tourist boats along the river. They have all 4 of them, plus the first copies made.

They are incredibly complex. I would love to buy a set of drawings, but I doubt I could ever find the time to actually build one, there must be several thousand separate parts in the things.

We won the submarine challenge. Watch us build a coal fired steam race car December 20.
-dp-

Of course he had to disclose

[thogard]

He was paid a "kings ransom" for the clock. (well almost, I know the details, if you don't read the book).

The King's Ransom was paid to solve a real problem that just isn't getting solved but needed to be. That 20,000 pounds (about several million dollars by todays rates) saved the British Empire millions of pounds and increased its ability to hold its growing empire.

I think the US goverment should take a lesson from this and offer a billion dollars as a prize for the things that need to be solved like cure for the common cold or aids. Right now the common cold cost the country about hundred of billions of dollars a year in lost productivity, makes about 6 billion for the drug compaines and is a major killer of older people. Offering the person (not company) that comes up with a solution to the problem a billion dollars is quite an incentive for a solution.

Harrison is a fascinating guy

[gwalla]

I've read the book, and I loved it. It really goes into detail, and manages to make all of it interesting even if you don't have any particular interest in seafaring. Haven't seen the TV show though.

I also found out something else about Harrison: he was a music buff. In fact, he invented his own tuning system (a variation on meantone) based on pi, which apparently approximates just-intonation (small whole number ratios between frequencies) much better than contemporary equal temperament, but never caught on because it required a few more than 12 tones per octave (and hence could not be played on a standard 7-white 5-black clavier keyboard).

A man named Charles Lucy rediscovered it when trying to find an ideal tuning for his guitar, and has developed it into a comprehensive system. Information on it can be found here.

That site also has links to a lot of resources on alternative tuning systems, a field I happen to be interested in.

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Zardoz has spoken!