Molina 1

Sebastian A. Molina
Dr. Richard Hirsh
History 3715
October 22, 2013
The 20,000 clock that changed the history
With the start of exploration voyages in the fifteenth century, a system to determine
the longitude at sea in an accurate form became very important. The relevance of the
longitude problem relied on the economic needs of merchants and the safety of seamen in
case of sea storms and possible shipwrecks.
1
To fulfill this need, the Board of Longitude
offered a 20,000 prize for anyone who can develop a practical method to precisely
calculate the longitude on a ship.
2
The amount of the prize caught the attention of a young
carpenter and clockmaker from Lincolnshire called John Harrison. He began to develop the
very first precision timekeeper, the basis of todays watches.
John Harrison made a breakthrough with his first major project in which he changed
the conventional anchor escapement with an invention of his own, the grasshopper
escapement. This escapement allowed the clock to have a system that avoids the friction
caused by oil and the deterioration of oil-based mechanisms by incorporating bearings that
used rolling contact instead of sliding contact.
3

The first prototype, called H1, implemented the grasshopper escapement, an
oscillator and the gridiron system used in Harrisons previous clocks.
4
The oscillator

1
Jonathan Betts, Time Restored: The Harrison Timekeepers and R.T. Gould, the man who knew
(almost) everything (New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2006), 83.
2
Jonathan Betts, John Harrison: inventor of the precision timekeeper, Endeavour, 1993, 160.
3
Rupert T. Gould, The marine chronometer; its history and development [by] Lt. Commander
Rupert T. Gould. With a foreword by Sir Frank W. Dyson. (London: Holland Press, 1923), 41.
4
Rupert T. Gould, The marine chronometer; its history and development [by] Lt. Commander
Rupert T. Gould. With a foreword by Sir Frank W. Dyson. (London: Holland Press, 1923), 41.
Molina 2

consists in two bar-balances link to each other and connected with balance springs which
allows the clock to have its own gravity so that every motion affecting one balance is
counteracted by the other balance. In order to manage the temperature changes Harrison
used the gridiron system, a compensated pendulum that uses a grid of bras and steel wires,
which he developed previously.
The H2 had a simplified design of the gridiron system and include a remontoir.
5
The
remontoir device consists in a small spring that controls the main train to avoid time
variations. The H3 had just improvements and redesigning on previous mechanisms but the
H4 was made from a completely new approach.
Made as a large watch, the H4 had a higher frequency oscillation and a bimetallic
strip
6
to compensate the temperature changes. It also had a verge escapement, similar to
common watches but unfortunately it requires oil on its bearings. The last timekeeper called
H5 showed improvements on H4 design and a simplified appearance.
The impact of the marine timekeeper relies on the solution of the longitude problem
and the strengthening of the Royal British and merchant navies by keeping them out of
shipwrecks and giving them economic and trading power.
7
Also, the Harrisons designing
concepts made England the leader on marine timekeepers and precision watches production
until the nineteenth century.
8

Word count:432


5
Jonathan Betts, John Harrison: inventor of the precision timekeeper, Endeavour, 1993, 163.
6
Jonathan Betts, Time Restored: The Harrison Timekeepers and R.T. Gould, the man who knew
(almost) everything (New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2006), 97.
7
Jonathan Betts, Time Restored: The Harrison Timekeepers and R.T. Gould, the man who knew
(almost) everything (New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2006), 86.
8
Jonathan Betts, John Harrison: inventor of the precision timekeeper, Endeavour, 1993, 167.
Molina 3

Bibliography

Betts, Jonathan. 1993. "John Harrison: inventor of the precision timekeeper." Endeavour 17
(4): 160-167.

. 2006. Time Restored: The Harrison timekeepers and R.T. Gould, the man who knew
(almost) everything. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

Gould, Rupert T. 1923. The marine chronometer; its history and development [by] Lt.
Commander Rupert T. Gould. With a foreword by Sir Frank W. Dyson. London:
Holland Press.

Harrison, John. 1767. The principles of Mr. Harrison's time-keeper. London:
Commissioners of Longitude.

2010. The Clock That Changed the World. Directed by Paul Bader. Produced by Paul
Bader. Performed by Adam Hart-Davis.

May, W. E., and H. D. Howse. 1976. "How the chronometer went to sea." Vistas in
Astronomy 20 (1): 135-136.