Just over a year ago when chilling in a hostel in Pula, Croatia, a friend lent me a book: Longitude. Cool, I thought, seeing it simply as something that would help me pass the time as I laid around on the beach. A literary dork, I don’t often read nonfiction, so I was surprised how much I ended up enjoying this story of sea clocks that I read through as quickly as I would have a novel. If you have the slightest interest in British history, seafaring, navigation, clocks, or astronomy, I cannot recommend it enough.
To get on with it, the book chronicles John Harrison‘s journey toward solving the problem of longitude. We take for granted the globes we’ve grown up with that are stratified by their degrees in both longitude and latitude, never really thinking about what mankind had to undergo to come up with this. How on Earth did they figure this out way back before today’s technology? The problem was so dire that, in 1714, the British Parliament offered a monetary prize of £20,000 (worth millions in today’s terms) to whomever could solve it.
As Harrison (a self-taught clockmaker by trade) determined that being able to accurately track time was at the crux of the matter (such that the local time of a destination could be compared with a basis such as Greenwich Mean Time), what was needed was an accurate clock. Sounds easier to us than what the issue really was at the time. In the 18th century, clocks didn’t exist that could keep ticking with accuracy for a long duration of time, and certainly not against conditions at sea of varying temperature, moisture, and pressure. And so, Harrison proceeded to build his clock, refining it through 5 different versions for over 4 decades of his life, all the while running neck and neck with competing clocks and the other dominant school of thought, 
astronomy (which relied on the stars as a measure of position…which works great until it gets cloudy!). It’s a fascinating story of dedication and precision and such a testament to man’s perseverance and innovation.
Harrison’s “H5,” is located in the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers‘ collection in London. H1 through H4 of the sea clocks (technically referred to as “chronometers”) are on display and still tickin’ in the National Maritime Museum‘s Royal Observatory in Greenwich, where time begins 
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I always find something new each time I go to Greenwich.
I can definitely see how that would be the case. I went for the first time on Saturday (very geared up to after writing this post
) and already can’t wait to return–I know there’s so much more to uncover.
This sounds so interesting and I must add this to my to-read list (I love reading non-fiction and try to read at least one non-fiction book to every three fiction). I love visiting Greenwich Maritime Museum and have done so a couple of times. I still aim to go to the planetarium one day but no one else I know is interested.
Glad it sparked your interest! The book is a good length that presents a lot of information, but not so much that you can’t process it all as if you have to choke it down, which is definitely what I look for in non-fiction
As I just commented to Mo, I only first went to Greenwich on Saturday…don’t know why I waited so long, as I loved it! I didn’t make it in to see any planetarium shows, but the overall observatory itself is so fascinating—the old telescopes, Harrison sea clocks (which I learned are there and NOT the Maritime Museum, which I’ll have to update in my post!), and, of course, the Prime Meridian marker. Have you popped into the Painted Hall and Chapel at the Royal Naval College yet? Those were an unexpected surprise—so gorgeous. I didn’t have much time for the markets or to explore the museums in more depth, so will definitely need to go back.
Ooh, Emm, I’m just checking out your blog post on Greenwich now. Love it! I’m going to be writing about London’s free museums today, so, if you don’t mind, I’d like to link to a couple of your posts that go indepth (like your recent one on the Science Museum).
[...] London is where time starts, laying as it does on the Prime Meridian—see my related “London Locations” post on Greenwich and its Royal Observatory and Maritime Museum, which make for a fascinating [...]
[...] in the London borough of Tower Hamlets (in the Docklands area toward Canary Wharf and Greenwich) and easily accessible by the DLR (Docklands Light Rail) public transport. Situated right on the [...]
[...] hour of sleep soon), here’s a useful history of BST and time changes provided by the National Maritime Museum, which is situated in the part of London where time begins, Greenwich: http://www.nmm.ac.uk. See also my [...]