The Book in 3 SentencesIn the 1700s, ships couldn't tell their longitude accurately, which claimed many lives. John Harrison invented the first reliable chronometer (watch that could be used at sea) by working on his own for more than two decades, which contrasted with most other attempts to determine longitude based on moon and star positions. He overcame institutional bias (e.g. results of his tests declared as flukes) by staying the course, but also with the help of others such as his son, who sought an audience with the King to protest unfair treatment.
ImpressionsHow I Discovered It
It was in TED's winter reading list: a collection of 56 books recommended by TED speakers http://t.ted.com/jy0l3w8
Who Should Read It?
Anyone interested in history (especially the history of science and British history), and anyone interested in seeing the power of creativity
How the Book Changed Me How my life / behaviour / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.
I learned five big important lessons:
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Progress is non-linear. We can make a sudden breakthrough after chipping away for years or even decades.
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Many things we take for granted today were actually big puzzles centuries back.
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Relentlessly high standards can have benefits and costs. (You produce a fantastic product, but competitors can catch up)
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Good work, politicking and keeping an eye on one's competition help produce success.
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If your work passes the smell test, it's fine if your work doesn't conform to societal norms.
Other Themes (may be related to the five big important lessons)
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Life is unfair.
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Hard work and perseverance can produce great results
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It is important to write well.
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Dream big.
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Simple inventions can work wonders, but can be exceedingly difficult to produce.
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Time and effort can work wonders.
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Don't underestimate the effort required to achieve big results.
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Know your audience when you speak to them. (What they like, etc)
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Ignore crackpots.
My Top 3 Quotes1.
Instead, Harrison pointed out the foibles of H-1 [his invention]. He was the only person in the room to say anything at all critical of the sea clock, which had not erred more than a few seconds in twenty-four hours to or from Lisbon on the trial run. Still, Harrison said it showed some “defects” that he wanted to correct... and then he would come back to the board and request an official trial on a voyage to the West Indies. But not now.
2.
In 1860, when the Royal Navy counted fewer than two hundred ships on all seven seas, it owned close to eight hundred chronometers. Clearly, this was an idea whose time had come. The infinite practicality of John Harrison’s approach had been demonstrated so thoroughly that its once formidable competition simply disappeared. Having established itself securely on shipboard, the chronometer was soon taken for granted, like any other essential thing, and the whole question of its contentious history, along with the name of its original inventor, dropped from the consciousness of the seamen who used it every day
3.
With his marine clocks, John Harrison tested the waters of space-time. He succeeded, against all
odds, in using the fourth—temporal—dimension to link points on the three-dimensional globe. He wrested the world’s whereabouts from the stars, and locked the secret in a pocket watch.
Summary + NotesUp to and including the 17th century, people could only determine latitude, not longitude. While the equator is the baseline for measuring latitude, the basis for measuring longitude constantly changed.
Inability to measure longitude hindered nautical navigation.
There were many unsuccessful attempts in solving the longitude problem. Kings and Queens around the world offered rewards for solving the problem, and it long stumped their minds.
The British Parliament passed the Longitude Act awarding GBP 20000 (millions of dollars today) to anyone who could solve the longitude problem to within half a degree (68 miles at the equator). Isaac Newton was brought in to weigh solutions. However, even in 1714, changing temperatures still proved a nightmare.
John Harrison built a pendulum clock ("H-1") that erred by less than 1 second every month, which was much better than existing clocks which erred by at least 1 minute a day
The Board of Longitude was stunned by H-1, but Harrison himself criticized it. He wanted a chance to produce a better clock ("H-2"), which took another 5 years.
When he produced and presented H-2, he again criticized it and asked for resources to produce H-3, which he worked on for 20 years.
The "clock of heaven", a lunar based method for detecting longitude, was John's main competitor.
John's bi-metallic strip, present in H-3, is present in many thermostats today
John Jeffreys built a dependable watch for John Harrison, which not only helped Harrison keep time, but also inspired H-4's design e.g. its small size. Thus H-4 looks like a non-sequitur when compared to predecessors
Bradley may have delayed H-4's trial for his personal gain; he was himself competing for the prize.
H-4 successfully crossed the Atlantic to Jamaica, losing only 5 seconds. Three observers attested to that. But upon its return to London, the trial was discovered not to have met Royal Society requirements, and data reliability was questioned.
H-4's success was also dismissed by Bliss (new Astronomer Royal) as a chance event. Bliss asked Maskelyne to judge H-4, which William Harrison challenged, as Maskelyne was himself a competitor for the prize.
Maskelyne succeeded Bliss (when Bliss died after two years). Parliament passed an act which specifically named John Harrison and imposed more stringent conditions on him. Harrison was now required to handover H-4, explain its inner workings, and subject it to tests conducted by Maskelyne to receive the promised GBP 20000. Eventually he had to handover H-1 to H-3 as well.
H-4 failed Maskelyne's trials. John Harrison complained the trials were unfair. Kendall built a replica of H-4, called K-1, in 2.5 years. John Harrison also built a replica himself (called H-5). William Harrison saw the King and convinced the King of unfair treatment. The King ran another trial at Richmond. After passing the King's test, Parliament granted John Harrison GBP 8750 out of benevolence. K-1 passed an extremely stringent set of tests set by Parliament, which included two round-the-world voyages with Captain Cook, made possible with sauerkraut.
Harrison died in 1776. By 1815, approximately 5000 chronometers had been sold; continuous innovation and competition overcame initial doubts about affordability (even from people like Kendall himself).
His inventions live on in Flamsteed House. In some sense, he connected the fourth dimension with the other three.