Pinned post for Q&A :) EDIT: The thumbnail originally said 'George Harrison' in error, this has been corrected to 'John Harrison', I also once get the names mixed up in the video.

@brendonbewersdorf986

Жыл бұрын

Hey drach I was recently trying to design my own ship and when I got the fire control system I had an idea is it feasible to design a hybrid optical and radar fire control system? I figured since early radar could sometimes be a bit finicky it might be beneficial to have a backup system

@davecollier583

Жыл бұрын

Could you tell us about some of the madder suggestions for finding longitude such as Sir Kenelm Digby and his injured dogs

@revelationsix

Жыл бұрын

So, what you're REALLY saying is that the Earth isn't flat?

@user-gr4sq3lo6n

Жыл бұрын

1) I hope the Observatory will offer copies of this podcast for sale in their giftshop - with getting wealthy beyond your wildest dreams (so you can build HMS Vanguard as your private yacht) from royalties 2) You mention Captain FitzRoy of HMS Beagle - You might want to do a piece on Admiral FitzRoy's Storm Glass (I have one on my desk). "The liquid within the glass is a mixture of several ingredients, most commonly distilled water, ethanol, potassium nitrate, ammonium chloride, and camphor. This specific mixture was promoted by Admiral Robert FitzRoy although similar devices existed even two decades earlier with variants in Italy, France and Germany.[2][3][4][5] FitzRoy carefully documented his claims on how the storm glass would predict the weather:[2][failed verification] If the liquid in the glass is clear, the weather will be bright and clear. If the liquid is cloudy, the weather will be cloudy as well, perhaps with precipitation. If there are small dots in the liquid, humid or foggy weather can be expected. A cloudy glass with small stars indicates thunderstorms. If the liquid contains small stars on sunny winter days, then snow is coming. If there are large flakes throughout the liquid, it will be overcast in temperate seasons or snowy in the winter. If there are crystals at the bottom, this indicates frost. If there are threads near the top, it will be windy. In 1859, violent storms struck the British Isles. In response, the British Crown distributed storm glasses, then known as "FitzRoy's storm barometers," to many small fishing communities around the British Isles for consultation by ships in port before setting sail.

@johnlander4635

Жыл бұрын

Are you doing Thomas Cochrane?

The shenanigans in trying to deny Harrison his dues is another chapter altogether, and must of been heartbreaking? The pettiness of some of the judges was actually criminal😮

@christopherconard2831

Жыл бұрын

Especially when you take into account the ships and crew lost during the delay.

@davecollier583

Жыл бұрын

If ever there was a time when pettyness ruled supreme it was Hanoverian England

@calvingreene90

Жыл бұрын

Just your standard case of government agencies in action.

@mrobmusic65

Жыл бұрын

Must *have been heartbreaking

@neiloflongbeck5705

Жыл бұрын

Harrison's crime was being better than his betters.

I love that this entire journey is Harrison repeatedly DOING THE THING and then saying "No... it's not perfect, let me try again."

@Zaprozhan

Жыл бұрын

Longitude Board: We have a winner! George Harrison: IT'S... NOT... DONE!

@jaelwyn

Жыл бұрын

But just as amazingly, not tearing it apart and refusing to let anyone see the "flawed" version -- the classic failure mode.

@davidlogansr8007

Жыл бұрын

Another obsessive compulsive genius was Abner Doble who built Steam Cars in the 1920’s. It is said by no less an authority than Jay Leno, who owns at least 3 of them, that no 2 are completely alike as Mr. Doble kept tinkering with changes even as his company tried to build them!

@jeromethiel4323

Жыл бұрын

You think that's good, hold mah beer! -Harrison

@RCAvhstape

Жыл бұрын

Sometimes perfect is the enemy of good enough, but in the case of precision navigation there is no real reason not to improve at every opportunity. Ships and aircraft (and likely you in your car) today navigate by use of satellites using atomic clocks, the finest timekeeping devices currently available, and are accurate to within a few feet. Harrison was a hero we should all look up to. Even more so because he didn't let the bastards get him down and never gave up.

I find it hilarious that as a massive, unintended "SCREW YOU" to Masceline (or however its spelled) Harrison's Clocks which he hated so much are now a prime display in the Royal Observatory.

@88porpoise

Жыл бұрын

​@CipiRipi00 he does get to be the villian of Harrison's story.

@HamTransitHistory

Жыл бұрын

Maskelyne.

@KPen3750

Жыл бұрын

@@HamTransitHistory thank you!

@tcm81

Жыл бұрын

Maskelyne was well liked by his contemporaries and was universally acknowledged to be a very fair man. He was appointed to safeguard the large amounts of public monies offered by parliament. I think he had the right to be careful with it on behalf of the public.

@tcm81

Жыл бұрын

Presumably you think the conference and celebration of Maskelyne that they held in 2011 was a "screw you" to Harrison. Maskelyne's Nautical almanac is the reason that the meridian is at Greenwich in the first place! Presumably this is also a "screw you" to Harrison. That's the way science works isn't it? Complete zero sum game. No cooperation. If someone wins, everyone else has to lose.

Right at the end when stepping. Between the hemispheres you missed a more modern development. With the advent of GPS it’s been discovered that the meridian at Greenwich is about 300 feet wrong because the gravitational field isn’t perfectly vertical. All the telescopes were calibrated to this gravity vertical.

@Drachinifel

11 ай бұрын

Thanks for the information! Is tte new meridian east or west? 😀

@scottmanley

11 ай бұрын

@@Drachinifel I think the true meridian is east: kzread.info/dash/bejne/mJ6ex6mYiaSto6Q.html

@neurofiedyamato8763

11 ай бұрын

I didn't expect to see Scott Manley here

@davidheaps3336

11 ай бұрын

How ca it be wrog when it is the origial iducial reference logitude?

@joesterling4299

11 ай бұрын

OK, but if it's the standard, then even if it's off from the initially assumed location by 300 feet, wouldn't it still be the standard?

George III was extremely annoyed with the board by the way they had treated John Harrison he advised Harrison to petition Parliament for the full prize after threatening to appear in person to dress them down.

@draco84oz

Жыл бұрын

That could have been an intersting occourance...isn't the monarch forbidden from entering the Commons on pain of death?

@dcbanacek2

Жыл бұрын

@@draco84oz The ruling monarch can "request" the presence of the House of Commons to join him in the House of Lords.

@tanall5959

Жыл бұрын

@@dcbanacek2 Alternatively the threat of him coming to the Commons in spite of that law over them acting like a bunch of twatwaffles over a timepiece might of jolted them a bit.

@KetsaKunta

Жыл бұрын

​@@draco84oz Who's supposed to carry that sentence out? Highly doubt it ever would be lol.

@calvingreene90

Жыл бұрын

@@KetsaKunta In the Magna Carta it was the Barons privilege and Duty to chastise a King that exceeded the limits of his power. Anyone with a range weapon that he can use from concealment.

"Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time" (1995) by Dava Sobel is one of THE most remarkable reads, all the more astonishing because it's true. Harrison's trials and tribulations yet dogged brilliance make for a tale that, were it indeed a work of fiction, nobody would believe possible. Can't recommend it highly enough. If you're GENUINELY interested by what you see in this video, READ THAT BOOK!

@TSZatoichi

Жыл бұрын

Also the BBC miniseries based to the book, it's very well acted and has the production values expected from the BBC.

@trifidos39

Жыл бұрын

It’s a great book

@christophpoll784

Жыл бұрын

Yep, i read it in german. Really good book!

@dzzope

Жыл бұрын

I'd listen to a Drach rendition of that.. 100%

@vipertwenty249

Жыл бұрын

Read it back in '98 and yes it is that good. Still on the bookshelf.

This was a great story, well told! I can’t get the leap from H-3 to H-4 out of my head, though. Can you imagine the reaction of everyone who had been following and perhaps attempting to rival Harrison’s work when he suddenly unveiled an over-sized pocket watch that was beyond anything anyone else could even imagine, let alone make?

@allangibson8494

11 ай бұрын

The thing was they could make duplicates - the Kendall versions of the H-4 Chronometer duplicated the functionality the next year. It was the what to make not the manufacturing technology that eluded them.

@donaldasayers

11 ай бұрын

@@allangibson8494 Omega make a watch with the Daniel's 'coaxial' escapement that exceeds marine chronometer accuracy by an order of magnitude and almost meets that of a £10 casio quartz, still beats a Rolex though.

@JrgPt96

11 ай бұрын

I mean the jump from regular clocks to H1 was just as massive. And let's not forget he casually INVENTED CAGED ROLLER BEARINGS for H3. like, that's about as important to modern mechanical engineering as the bolt, or the gear itself for that matter

@donaldasayers

11 ай бұрын

What Harrison did was to show that the technology is possible. The technology in H1 through 3 was a dead end, Harrison saw that, which is why he abandoned that route and went to H4. But even H4 was a technological dead end Kendal knew that. No matter, LeRoy in France and Earnshaw and Arnold in the UK invented (I am not going to argue about who got there first, an invention in a time of need occurs in multiple minds.) the detent escapement, which led to the marine chronometer as we know it that lasted over 200 years. Without Harrison to show it was possible, they would not have had the spur and the confidence to innovate.

@otisarmyalso

11 ай бұрын

Aye

When a random guy on the Internet makes a more thorough and informative (though less highly produced) video than PBS did back in the day, I call that societal progress. Keep it up, Drach!

@b1laxson

11 ай бұрын

Just like how in his day Harrison was some random woodworker

When 40 years ago I arrived on my first front line RAF squadron we were still using the sextant to find our way when out of cover of radio nav aids and there was a master clock in flight planning so we could all synchronise our watches. One day a hand-written sign appeared taped above it: "The practice of setting this clock 15 seconds fast should either cease or be widely publicised". After that the accuracy of astro fixes improved instantly. Since the world rotates at 15.04 degrees per hour and one degree at the equator is 60 miles, that's up to 15 miles of error per minute. Tie in an aircraft flying at 6 miles a minute and it's no wonder the sums weren't working out!

@darthrex354

Жыл бұрын

I'm curious how the clock was set at the time. Direct radio clock or did somebody have to be on the horn with an installation with a known correct clock and then calling down to some airman on a ladder fiddling the second dial? Or was it sufficiently precise that the loss over time was known exactly enough to say "it has been 24 days, 12 hours set the clock forward 1 second". It's fine if you don't know, but I'm a huge precision nerd so I'm always curious.

@timgosling6189

Жыл бұрын

@@darthrex354 Probably using the phone and the Speaking Clock.

@donaldasayers

11 ай бұрын

@@darthrex354 A well regulated master clock, usually synchronome or Gents' will perform to within a second a day usually better. The talking clock by telephone was started in '36 and dedicated landlines carrying time signals had been in use since the early '20s. But of course master clocks of that type don't usually have a seconds hand and only indicate to the nearest 30 seconds, you have to take your timings from when the hand jumps.

As a german watchmaker of course I know the story of John Harrison and I visited Greenwich a few years ago. Sadly H4 was in restauration back then. But thanks a lot for this splendid video and your amazing skills of turning history into a great story. I like your videos very much and having this centerpiece of watchmaking history told by you really made me feel very happy. Thank you. 🙏🏻

If KZread videos were eligible, you deserve an Emmy Award for this video. Best KZread video, ever!

@miamijules2149

Жыл бұрын

Hey seriously, this one truly, truly does. What a fantastic video and a fascinating subject. Drach killed it.

Before the clocks of Harrison, the royal navy had financed astronomers to make tables of eclipses of the jupiter moons. With a good telescope and some luck with the weather, the captain of a ship could independently determine the time (and set the onboard clock). While this method was not good enough to cash in the 10000 pound price, it gave danish astronomer Ole Römer the idea, that it could be used to measure the speed of light and lo and behold, he came up with a rough estimate of 230.000 km/s.

@jamesharding3459

Жыл бұрын

That is remarkably accurate, given the tools available to them.

@pwmiles56

Жыл бұрын

Yet Bradley, the villain of this story, came up with another way to measure the speed of light, known as stellar aberration (Drach briefly refers to this). Bradley's estimate was better than Roemer's, about 295,000 km/sec, but this might have been from a better number for the Earth's orbital radius.

@peterkoch3777

Жыл бұрын

@@pwmiles56 Both numbers were accurate enough to earn a lot of scepticism and disbelief😂

@georgesoros6415

Жыл бұрын

Jupiter and its moons probed very useful to Capt Cooke. If one's chronometers were off on the other side of the world (It did happen), a particularly mathematical skipper with a sextant, or better yet, an island and a transit. Of course, the Island would be on a chart, in all likelihood, but islands were often found to be in the wrong place, like Pitcairn's. Very lucky for the Bounty's crew.

@pwmiles56

Жыл бұрын

@@georgesoros6415 Fascinatingly the Bounty had a chronometer, one of Kendall's, known as K2. With this the mutineers determined the longitude of Pitcairn Island and concluded it had been wrongly charted, and they would escape discovery. K2 had an adventurous history after that but is now also in the National Maritime Museum. Search "The Story of the Bounty Chronometer"

Drach youre going above and beyond with the addition of sound effects! I typically listen and hearing the waves and wood creaking makes it feel like im listening to a high quality audiobook

As the song goes: Cold falls the night, Cold rolls the ocean And colder blows the breath of fate That sends the roaring gale. The stars give their light For duty or devotion, But a sailor's heart needs more than prayer When eye and compass fail And more than hope to guide his lonely sail. By sea and land John Harrison's hands Made sure for ever more That sailors could find longitude To bring them safe ashore. Your work was long, Your days were driven. You knew that you could build a clock To marry space and time. But your one great wrong Was never forgiven - For to be better than your betters Was worse than any crime, And their envy was a hill you would not climb. By sea and land John Harrison's hands Made sure for ever more That sailors could find longitude To bring them safe ashore. And the prize of thirty thousand pounds Was more than just a prize. It was dignity and justice Over bitterness and lies - And the longer they denied you, Attacked you and decried you, The more you saw the weakness in their eyes. How many lives, How many talents, Were tainted by the poisoned well Of power from which they drank? But the wind that drives The bold topgallants Was harnessed by a man with Neither privilege nor rank, And the sailor lads, they knew and gave their thanks.

@neurofiedyamato8763

11 ай бұрын

Those are some cool lyrics. What's the name of the song?

@neiloflongbeck5705

11 ай бұрын

@@neurofiedyamato8763 John Harrison's Hands. I'm not sure who did the original, but Show of Hands have covered it.

Remembering the loss of HMS Hood, 82 years ago today (May 24, 1941). RIP to the souls lost that day.

George Harrison in the thumbnail Drach… never knew he had such talents outside of music.

@christopheryoung3356

Жыл бұрын

I half expected a musical review of Wreck of the Hesperus.

This awesome video covers the fundamental confluence of two of the fundamental questions in life: "where am I?" and "what time is it?"

As I have said before, "There is a reason they call it DEAD reckoning."

@frankmiller95

Жыл бұрын

Yes, but that is incorrect. The "dead" in dead reckoning comes from the shortening of the word "deduced," as in the former description, "deduced reckoning."

@calvingreene90

Жыл бұрын

@@frankmiller95 Dead is an awfully odd word to come up with when shortening deduced.

@eknapp49

Жыл бұрын

I’m not sure if he ever really said it, but there is a line in the movie “Spirit of St. Louis” where Charles Lindberg says, “There’s nothing wrong with dead reckoning, except maybe the name.”

@calvingreene90

Жыл бұрын

@@eknapp49 We just heard several demonstrations the problem with dead reckoning.

@88porpoise

Жыл бұрын

​@@frankmiller95 That is probably not the case as recorded usage of "dead reckoning" long pre-dates any record of "deduced reckoning"

Excellent video, Drach! It’s a shame that Maskelyne screwed over Harrison for so long. I never thought I’d say this as an American, but thank god George III intervened to do the right thing.

@bo7341

Жыл бұрын

You know someone is done dirty when Americans and George III are in agreement on the matter.

@rembrandt972ify

Жыл бұрын

Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day. 🤣

@AnimeSunglasses

Жыл бұрын

@@rembrandt972ify Aaaaaaaayyyyyy!

@justintaylor1713

Жыл бұрын

@rembrandt972ify A stopped clock is right twice a day. A broken clock can be wrong all day

@rembrandt972ify

Жыл бұрын

@@justintaylor1713 In the context of mechanical timepieces, a broken clock is stopped. A clock that is running fast or slow can still be used to tell time if you make adjustments.

That final scene of H2 happily working away was great, all the more so for me as by pure chance it happened that the long pendulum of my 'grandfather' clock in its roughly 7' 4" custom case was perfectly in synch, and it's barely 4' to the left of the widescreen TV I use for my computer screen. Mine's an early 20th century German action, but if you'll pardon the pun, it was really quite moving to see them gently working away on opposite sides of the planet when one considers what John Harrison went through so many years ago. I would hope he'd be delighted by that fact.

Never thought I'd have found an hour long presentation on clocks so interesting. John Harrison, a name I'd heard but was never aware of his brilliance. Such a shame the pettyness of people can nearly destroy all that work and progress. Very well presented and the production was top notch. Well done sir.

If there was ever a segment of Modern Marvels that deserved to be told, it should be told by you Drach! This is a wonderful video and at a scant hour, should be included in any Naval Officers history classes. This should be a million view video!

@rsr789

5 ай бұрын

Instead we get idiots watching other idiots on Tik Tok. Sad state of affairs.

I can only imagine the captain, board members, and knowledgeable experts/sailors present in this whole situation being both in awe and jubilation at the fact that Harrison had actually done it (and done it really well), and that Harrison seemed to be readily able to IMPROVE and refine the design repeatedly.

Great video. Love this story. George Harrison, what an incredible man. He should be up there with any of the great names from our history. I suspect he would be more prominent in our collective memory if he had attended Eton, Repton or similar, he certainly would have got his prize more promptly. Credit to the monarch for perhaps identifying class and jealousy were the biggest issues for his chronometers to surpass.

@timgodderis1918

Жыл бұрын

in maritime circles , he is up there (together with Keppler, among others)... as soon as I saw the name I had to watch this episode. Thank you from a former merchant navy cadet.

@georgiathai4961

Жыл бұрын

I think it was John Harrison. A bit before George’s time…

@libertinoradio4597

Жыл бұрын

@@georgiathai4961 Doh! I looked him up and double checked too. I just presumed he had preferred George!

@libertinoradio4597

Жыл бұрын

@@timgodderis1918 I'm glad he is understandably revered in maritime circles.

@calvingreene90

Жыл бұрын

Mad George had his good points. And I am one of a great number of beneficiaries of his forcing a colonial Rebellion. But as the rebels being of all European extraction calling it a revolution isn't entirely wrong.

Brilliant Drach! As a fellow engineer I always felt the story of Longitude was a great one! Loved your take and the interactive elements you supplied. The treatment of John Harrison after constructing these brilliant devices at that time is appalling

The greatest lesson of John Harrison for me though is that he was not a clockmaker by trade. He was a carpenter. His curiosity, drive for understanding, urge to develop his skills and headlong pursuit for excellence solved the greatest navigational challenge for the benefit of all humanity. A working class lad who wasnt Oxbridge, rich or an aristocrat changed the world. Thats a lesson we need to share with kids today...

@farmerned6

11 ай бұрын

as always God bless the Men tinkering in Sheds

@theelizabethan1

11 ай бұрын

Two Presidents of the U. S.A. had the surname, "Harrison": 1) William Henry Harrison 2) Benjamin Harrison

The lesson is, grab the prize as quickly as you can before the terms change. You can always go back and improve the device later. In any case. Harrison is hero who deserves more recognition than he gets. My hat is off to him. And his son who faithfully carried out his experiments for him.

having read Dava Sobel's book about the quest for Longitude many years before, I spent my first day ever in London back in 1999 making the pilgrimage to the Royal Observatory. Having arrived by plane and found the hotel I settled finally on a boat a Westminster and gobsmacked by the history all around me rode the Thames to Greenwich. When you walk in and are confronted by these truly remarkable devices whirring away hundreds of years after they were first made you cannot help from being awestruck at their beauty and ingenuity and the age that they heralded. Thank you for your wonderful piece which encapsulated my journey of discovery more than two decades on

I love the story of John Harrison's clocks! I'm so glad you covered it!

Forgetting that he'd stored a bunch of magnetic lodestones in the cupboard right next to the metal precision clock he's testing is just such a George III thing to do.

@rascototalwar8618

11 ай бұрын

I am sure that's how its recorded but to me it sounds like a sabotage attempt where they may have paid a cleaner or something to switch items around.

@awatkinson100

2 ай бұрын

Enrico Femi discovered neutron slowing by hyrdogen atoms in parrafin because of some candles near an experiment I understand.

As an astronomer this story has always fascinated me , history well told Drach thank you.

Galileo telescope helmet sounds like a great band name.

I have always been in awe of Harrison and his beautiful timepieces. Thanks Drach, a fitting tribute to the great Harrison.

Have always found the Harrison story very compelling. Not only because I find complicated mechanical things fascinating, but also because it's a very human drama of frustration and ultimate triumph. Thanks for this.

I have been trying to watch this for a week now. I finally found an hour of peace and quiet. I am glad I did.

Hello Drac. Even though I am one of those 'uppity colonials' (American), the facts of Harrison's genius is still felt today, since all ships, even those with GPS navigational systems, still have ship-board clocks to do the same job 'the old-fashioned' way. Also, I note that George III, King of England is not well looked upon by Americans in general, and it is good to see that the King did something 'good', besides piss off 'those uppity colonials' in America. Now that I have thoroughly stuck my tongue in my cheek about it all, I would like to thank you for such a good and well-spoken video on the topic. I note that your video is more to the point, with less confusion, than the movie: Longitude, which was my 'benchmark' for informative layman's knowledge of the topic until your video. And having said that, I still recommend that people watch that movie in any case. Keep on making videos, Drac. I find them fascinating, and interesting.

Hi Drach. Quick correction, Halley did not discover the comet that bears his name, records of it in the night sky exist going back as far as 240 BC. At the time comets were thought to be independent events, Halley was the first to realize that the bright comets that had appeared in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were in fact the same object in a 76 year orbit

@xuthnet

Жыл бұрын

I hate the way that people try to be pedantic with discover. There are lots of meanings of the term. This ranges from "a toddler discovering that they have feet" to "the awful bastard of a human Columbus was the first European to discover the Americas and record their existence in a manner that was well disseminated throughout much of the world".

@MrAstrojensen

Жыл бұрын

That counts as a discovery. Halley may not have discovered the comet itself, per se, but he did "connect the dots", figured out that several large comets seen earlier were in fact a single comet, and predicted its next apparition.

@grizzlygrizzle

Жыл бұрын

And there's a thin line between discovery and invention. Newton's "discovery" of gravity could be just as well described as his inventing the procedure of singling out/ objectifying gravity as a distinct entity from matter, as opposed to treating it as a property of matter. He did refer to gravity alternately as "a force" and "a property of matter" (i.e. inherent in matter, and inseparable from it), but he singled it out/ objectified it provisionally, in order to enable him to mathematize it. -- (I say "provisionally" because in the 17th and early 18th centuries, there was a trend to treat the world as either simply/unambiguously as a collection of distinct, countable entities or as a collection of distinct, countable entities in a less absolute way, but still in an over-emphasized way. Leibniz and Hume were quite extreme in this, Leibniz concluding that there was no such thing as causation between objects, and Hume concluding that the connections that we perceive in the world were merely products of "mental associations." Newton was not a scientist. He was a practitioner in Natural Philosophy, which was at the time still trying to figure out the best way to understand natural phenomena, and Newton could be said to have been the most-important in a bunch of people who invented modern science. Galileo had earlier seen the importance of mathematizing reality in order to render it more predictable and manipulable, but Newton got it over the hump in that regard. To mathematize is to objectify, or rather, mathematizing reality assumes that one is treating reality as a collection of distinct, countable objects. Treating reality as simply, unambiguously, absolutely a collection of distinct, countable objects negates any connections between them, because "distinct" and "connected" are direct antonyms. If something is absolutely distinct, it cannot be connected to anything else, and that negates causation and other forms of connection. And Newton wasn't invested in this kind of metaphysical absolutism, and his argument in the Principia was that it would be fruitful to mathematize physical phenomena, but he didn't insist on the extreme implications of pluralism as a metaphysical doctrine.) -- Newton was one of the inventors of the technique of analyzing physical phenomena down to mathematical formulae, and of singling out and isolating variables to the point of being able to mathematize them.

@springford9511

Жыл бұрын

Seems like discovered to me.

@allangibson8494

11 ай бұрын

@@xuthnet And Columbus didn’t disseminate the discovery to the world - that’s why it is called America not Columbia (or Christopher). It was Amerigo Vespucci who spread the news to the Netherlands…

Dava Sobel’s book “Longitude” is terrific. Jeremy Irons and Michael Gambon star in a UK TV adaptation of the same title. Superbly acted and a must for any Naval History fan.

Fantastic story about a fantastic subject, told fascinatingly. I think this goes to show that The work was rewarding enough to keep him going. The contributions to humanity cannot be understated here. Thanks George! I was always wondering about bearings and races too, and to think they were a bi product. Interesting he passed on 1776 as well, the birth of a nation seeking to get away from that system. RIght on time.

Love the story of JOHN Harrison, and the evolution of accurate timepieces. Harrison was one of those matchless geniuses of history like Da Vinci. Dana Sobel's book is great, but a special place in my heart goes to the video version of the book starring Jeremy Irons as Gould. Another clock-obsessed man. ;)

Ooooo. I was hoping you'd do a video on this topic. I can't watch it now - living to earn - so I am saving it up as a treat for later in the day. Now viewed the production. Superb. Mr D deserves the widest audience for efforts like this. Better than the BBC

This remains a incredible success story to this day. As an engineer, I recognize many of Harris' inventions as either still in use or only (relatively speaking) recently replaced. He deserved much more recognition and reward than he received.

Love these long form single topic videos of yours, and this one specifically has to be one of your best works

Danish astronomer Ole Römer realized the speed of light when using the Jupiter moons method of determining longitude between the Paris Observatory and Hven (Tycho Brahe's island). He found a 15 minute deviation and realized that was the time light took to travel the diameter of Earth's orbit. Pretty genius, which pains me to say since I'm Swedish 🙂

I did know some of this story but your in-depth history and showing of the clocks really was a masterpiece. The persistence of Harrison and his determination to perfect his work is truly remarkable. Thanks for all the great history you share with us.

"Upside down, drowning, or on fire.....and that's if you're lucky." Fricken brilliant! (as a writer I had to play that 5 times!)

There is an excellent short (@120 pages) history, written by Dava Sobel, of the longitude prize and the Harrison clocks, titled simply 'Longitude'. It is both a compelling read and a well researched and written book which I would heartily recommend to anyone interested in the story of the critically important finding of longitude- from the benifits to navigation and safety, to the geopolitical implications. The author also does an excellent job of bringing the participants in the quest for longitude to life, which is fortunate, since so many of the people involved, from Newton to Maskelyne, from Harrison to Cook, and even some of the merely incidental/peripheral participants in the story. It is one of my favorite short histories, and I've read it several times.

This was one of the coolest and well rounded stories you have told! We just went on a one hour long adventure and learned an amazing piece of history i wasnt aware of. By the end of this episode i was so proud for Harrison to finally get his award. Thanks Drach you really outdid yourself with this one!!

@tango_uniform

11 ай бұрын

The only question I still have relates to "noon", which was a different time everywhere. A navigator would have to calculate speed accurately in order to measure the clock's performance against "noon".

Killed it with the Longitude video Drach; thanks, that was truly enjoyable.

Thank you an excellent video. Great to be reminded of the inventiveness that made Britain such a successful nation in the 19th century especially. (Men and women of vision are completely lacking in our current political leadership imho).

The fact that some mechanisms in H3 were bypassed for better ones is so close to software. But this guy was doing it with gears!

The craftsmanship of such a device is almost unbelievable until I think of when it was made then it's mind boggaling. Thnx.

George Harrison -- great watch maker. And a mean guitar player. 😉 Drach, as an engineer yourself I'm sure this video was a labor of love, but you've outdone yourself on this one. It's videos like this that make your channel so special.

A very nice documentary. I had the privilege of visiting the Royal Observatory and seeing these beautiful pieces in 2023. They are lovingly displayed and seeing them was a highlight of my UK trip. I appreciate that King George took it upon himself finally do do right by Mr. Harrison. Also appreciate that the UK now so honors Mr. Harrison with this prominent display. How many lives did Mr. Harrison save? How many ships? How much commerce did he enable? If there is a Heaven, Mr. Harrison certainly enjoys a coveted seat.

I seen something like that on top of a gas stove in Peckham once.

A real pet subject for me and this is exactly the kind of video I've been looking forward to you from you. Thank you Drach!

An important story, Drach, and thanks for telling it. As for the "George vs John" thing, don't worry about it. I remember you having trouble with the difference between the Baltic and Black seas way back. Just shows you're human instead of a robot.

One of your best. Brought back the visit I did with my grandmother to the Royal Observatory in 1968.

H5 appears to be on show at The Science Museum in London and K1 at Greenwich.

Excellent discussion of what would normally be a very esoteric subject. It compares favorably with the professionally produced documentary that I saw on TV a decade or two ago. Well done!

I loved the parts where you spoke outside next to the buildings 31:31 . The sound quality and tone made me nostalgic for 90's and 00's documentaries! 😁😁👍

Drach, you have outdone yourself........that was an amazing explanation of the Harrison clock, how it worked, and the circumstance of its creation. Harrison almost alone revolutionized clocks and time keeping.........truly astonishing.

Thanks for sharing. The subject of how early navigation gradually improved is fascinating.

I don't really see the point of the sound effects, but they don't really bother me, either. At least it seems like other viewers appreciated them. Here's the issue: many KZread presenters are very good at copywriting and video production, but aren't experts in the material they're presenting. This has made me wary of videos with high production value, as it's rare that a video has both high production value and good factual accuracy. For me, Drach is a trusted source, so it's a little surprising to see him using sound effects, which on another channel might indicate the first step on a slippery slope towards creating the type of videos produced by a certain bald and bearded youtuber. But I'm not alarmed, as I can't imagine Drach ever sacrificing accuracy for production value.

Oh, I am happy I found you. I really love John Harrison's story and through it, I keep finding and learning a lot more things!

This is absolutely fantastic. Got to be one of the best technical videos on the channel. The technical marvel the marine chronometer was, can be compared to GPS of the modern era; with GPS, of course, not having such an earth moving effect on maritime travel, as the chronometer did.

@Isolder74

Жыл бұрын

Well was ground breaking because there was no alternative before that was reliable. A fleet without good clocks could easily be caught off guard by a fleet with them. Of course a fleet with good clocks against a fleet that didn’t could just avoid battle until they see a good opportunity. No wonder the reward was so high for finding a good solution.

When measuring Longitude there is little latitude for error.

@calvingreene90

Жыл бұрын

Groan.

@jefferyindorf699

Жыл бұрын

Punny, very punny. 😆

I read the book Longitude many years ago. Must dig it out & read it again.

@awatkinson100

2 ай бұрын

Read Longitude years ago, and went to Greenich to see the clocks. Missed H4, still learning. They should have a replica there for folks to see when original is cleaned. Amazing Cook see why he preferred the smallest one even though he could do the lunar tables. A brilliant man on his own. Think he also contributed to the solution to scurvy.

Dave Sobel would applaud this superb effort, so damned good I am going to watch it again right now.

I wasn't aware and now I'm pretty impressed how much watch-making ows one single man. For that alone this video deserves a big thumbs up! And the nautical background is also more than welcome, it is what I subscribed this channel in the first place.

That was awesome! Thank you for putting this together and sharing it with us!

1- glad that the intro song is back👍 2- solid content

My job in the U.S. Navy was Navigation totally loved this story

What a wonderful man Harrison must have been. I must admit, I loved the the film ‘Longitude’ when it hit the screens so much that I bought a copy. Despite much dramatic embellishment it successfully captures the achievements and frustrations and makes a striking point of the class and social divisions of British Society.

The Royal Observatory's horological exhibit is one of my favorite museums in Britain. My friends and I had a great time there. We were surprised to find they actually have a few American Waltham timepieces among the pocket watches.

@johngillespie9459

Жыл бұрын

Actually not that surprising. A watchmaker neighbor of mine told me late 19th century American pocket watches were among the most accurate in the world. He would know, he repaired them for a living. They were also very delicate. If you dropped one, you were going to need his services or those of someone similarly skilled. He told me he once spent a whole work day crafting a single set screw. Made me wonder how I could call myself a machinist after talking with him.

Great video, the kind of thing I subscribe for, especially liking the dig at the uk gvt's/elite's complete lack of morals and rectitude (regardless of ruling coterie) around the 50min mark.

That was a top piece of documentary making, as good as, if not better than anything I've seen on mainstream media. Nicely done!!!

@WilliamRNicholsonLST-1195

11 ай бұрын

Please tell me , does main stream media still exist ? I had thought they were all dead & buried ? Even CNN has been expired since it became the Trump News Network a few weeks ago ...... Nick , NavyBlueSmoke , LST - 1195

Drach, Simply outstanding. Naval Scientific History. One of your best. Thanks for throwing in the bit about Ben Franklin. He's a favorite of mine.

Well God damn Drach…. damn, damn, damn that was AMAZING. We gotta get that up on the Discovery Channel or History or NatGeo (or whatever suitable stand-in exists for proper historical programming). Wow. Thank you.

Jay Foreman did a great video on Harrisons clock

@Hendricus56

Жыл бұрын

Yea, basically the perfect TL;DW option compared to this video

@TheRolandS69

Жыл бұрын

Map men, map men, map, map, map, map men.

Fabulous story and explanation Drach! No discussion of navigation before GPS can be complete without Mr. Harrison's name and accomplishments. All geniuses have their detractors, and some are unabashedly jealous, and shameless in their derision of great men. Thanks once again !

Thank you far and away the best description of this issue. I remember as a young man in the 70’s watching a movie about this topic and I’ve always found it fascinating!

Drach, you have been everywhere in the states but you seem to have skipped the San Francisco Bay. We have some lovely ships, including Jeremiah O’Brien. She has a lovely story. If I’ve missed your telling of it, apologies. If not, shocking oversight. We’ve also got Hornet CV 12 (which a local high school sports team is named for). Come to our fair city, I’ll show you round.

@Drachinifel

Жыл бұрын

Coming in September :)

@loganhesse413

Жыл бұрын

@@Drachinifel I’ll be having a birthday then. Please reach out. A great deal of San Francisco’s maritime history is buried beneath the streets. Ships are part of our very bones.

I can highly recommend the book "Longitude" by Dava Sobel. It was such a fascinating story. I think I've read this book 3 or 4 times over the years.

@user-qr9uh1fd8g

11 ай бұрын

Me too

I honestly never expected this topic to be quite so fascinating. While I've known for a very long time that accurate timekeeping was important for navigation, I didn't know how relatively recent this, or accurate longitude, was. Thanks!

I absolutely love your content. I listen to you while I'm working and while I'm going to sleep. Don't take offense to that, I find your storylines very relaxing. you may find it interesting that I live in Oregon near Portland and the USS Oregon chimney/mast is placed in a Central Park along the Willamette River. you did a special on the USS Oregon a while ago and I thought that was pretty cool. I also took a tour on the USS Missouri and the USS Iowa in Los Angeles. I have not been able to get to the New Jersey just yet on the East Coast. I watch the curator New Jersey and I love his stuff all the time. when I took the tour on the USS Missouri I took note that they make a smell of bread in the bakery. I thought of you at that time FYI. thank you for everything!

There is one point that I thought was misleading - the map shown at 2:38 actually shows the fleet's true position, not where they thought they were (which was much further east, just off the coast of Brittany), and the course they steered was intended to take them up the English Channel, not towards the Isles of Scilly.

@Drachinifel

Жыл бұрын

I was trying to show the relative position of where they actually were to where they ended up :)

@CharlesStearman

Жыл бұрын

@@Drachinifel In your commentary you say that they believed they were 200m miles WSW of the Scilly Isles, which is the position shown on the map.

Sounds like an advertising jingle "Avoiding the Rocks with Harrison Clocks"

WOW! This is an incredible presentation of the history of naval chronometers. Many thanks, Drach!

As an astronomer I knew a lot about the Greenwich Observatory, but I had never known how visible it was from the river. Thanks!

Super interesting and a great video! People back then weren't fools and this quest for accuracy really puts modern scientific progress in perspective.

@alganhar1

Жыл бұрын

Its where the modern Scientific method was greatly defined and honed. Really what we scientists do today, and how we do it was mostly invented by those early giants. Sure we have refined some things, invented some new measurements as well as some new methods of observing things, but the procedure is the same. They laid the foundation upon which we continue to build. Without them modern science would not be possible.

@gregorywright4918

Жыл бұрын

@@alganhar1 They also "laid the foundation" for how science could be perverted or corrupted for personal gain or preference. They wanted the "lunar method" to succeed so badly they impeded a much easier and more precise method for decades. Even George III recognized their perfidity.

This is top tier documentary quality. Excellent job!

The KAL007 entered Soviet air space in the early 1920s because the Captain did not wait the full 20 minutes for the inertial positioning system to callibrate. Now ... imagine how imprecise an inertial system would have been in 1780! Excellent video, btw!

Makes me wonder if you could bring all these great minds back for one day in our modern world. How they would marvel at the things we take for granted. Computers, smart phones, Commercial aircraft allowing you to go nearly anywhere on earth within a day, GPS even electricity itself. We have it easy.

This was a fantastic episode Drach. The lore of the chronometers is very interesting indeed.

I've been an admirer of John Harrison ever since I first read his story perhaps thirty years ago. Also the excellent book _Longitude_ by Dava Sobel was of great interest to me. Thank you for telling the story so well, and for putting yourself to the effort of bringing to us the exhibits at the Royal Observatory, which are a joy to see. When I first read of the bypassed devices within the H.3 clock that were discovered by Lieutenant Commander Rupert Thomas Gould when he cleaned H.3 in the 1920s, the description of this feature of the clock struck my heartstrings with a distinct plucking sensation, because as a software developer of more than thirty years' experience, I myself have been compelled to do the same thing on a number of occasions. That is, rather than remove code that worked but could be improved, leaving it (the earlier version) in place and to at least a partial extent functional, but passing some intermediate product of that software on to an improved algorithmic component, this being done because the act of completely removing the old code was riskier (because it might have unforeseen consequences too difficult to test for) than simply leaving it in place and "coding around it," which is exactly the way I thought of it the first time I had to do it. That John Harrison did the same thing made me feel a lovely sort of personal connection with that most extremely clever, resourceful, and indefatigable engineer of more than two hundred years ago. It also made me feel less remorseful for having left semi-functional code within my own designs. The fact that he did so with power-transmitting shafts and gears and bearings, whilst I only did it with lines of C++ code, I saw as only a slight distinction. Perhaps a slightly rash and presumptuous oversight on my part, but so be it. There is also a BBC documentary on Harrison that is less thorough than yours. Those of your viewers who want an additional dose of John Harrison lore might like it; it is called _The_ _Clock_ _That_ _Changed_ _The_ _World,_ and can be found on KZread.

@johnlambert3273

11 ай бұрын

Thats Dava Sobel, (a woman)

@Obladgolated

11 ай бұрын

@@johnlambert3273 Thanks for the correction, which has been added to the OP.

This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Thank you very much.

Great video! Thank you. As a former SWO who trained on the sextant I find this topic fascinating.

George Harrison said it best... It's gonna take time A whole lot of precious time It's gonna take patience and time, mmm To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it To do it right, child