Harrison

I bought this book along with Dava Sobel's book and the DVD 'Longitude', (frequently bought together). I had seen (and have still got on VHS somewhere) a long time ago the film on TV which I thought at the time was great history (should be shown in all schools). I have now got a modern DVD version. I have just finnished reading the books and they are an excellent read. I read the paperback (Sobel's) first then this one by Mr Betts. The story of time to find your position in the world whilst at sea is fascinating and this book is excellent at explaining how it was all done. The 'Fools and Horses' episode also gets a mention. The quality of the book is 1st class and the diagrams and photos are also very good. The whole story is really what put the 'great' into Great Britain and is the reason why Britain ruled the waves and was able to create the British Empire. It also makes you appreciate the quartz watch you wear on your wrist today, yet take for granted. Great book.

John Harrison was an apparently ordinary joiner in the Humberside area of Yorkshire. He heard about the reward offered by the Board of Longitude for a viable means of determining longitude (£20,000 for the most accurate determination, maybe 20 or 30 million today) and decided to have a go. The story of his efforts to overcome, not only the technical problems but also the sneering and carping of upper class buffoons who seemed to resent his success where their best efforts led to failure, has been well told elsewhere but this volume tells the story of the man behind the great achievement together with an overview of the problem, the state of technology at the time and his legacy. Buy it, you will enjoy it.

This an excellent book with good illustrations on the subject of the Harrison Clocks which were developed to enable longitude to be measured accuratley at sea. Best read in conjunction with the DVD "Longitude" which is a suberb film showing how the clocks were developed by John Harrison in order to win a financial prize from Parliament, and later how they were restored by Rupert Gould for the Maritime Museum. The film very cleverly intercuts between the lives and work of Harrison & Gould.

Present for a watch fanatic. He loved the book and the drawings. shame it is so short

Excellent. Good sound well balanced historical account. The diagrams and explanations of escapements and the key functional parts of clocks, watches and chronometers are especially valuable and informative.

Anyone interested in horology will appreciate this book. It delivers a clear, concise explanation of the evolution of Harrison clocks with drawings explaining the progress and refinements made by this talented innovator. It has some 'standard' photographs of the 'H' series of clocks but also some of his lesser known works. This is a relatively short but engrossing read. I lent my copy to a friend who instantly bought two more.

If R T Gould's The Marine Chronometer was the definitive reference work on the Marine Chronometer. Then this has to be the definitive illustrated work on the Marine Chronometer. Once again this is a fantastic history of the marine chronometer, written again by someone with great passion and determination. Thank Goodness Del and Rodney found H6 ;)

Insightful grounding into the life of John Harrison