Download or read book The Marine Chronometer written by John Cronin and published by Crowood Press (UK). This book was released on 2010 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maritime chronometers are rare and precious items, crafted with care and precision, to provide an accurate means of measuring time and determining longitude at sea. Developed in the eighteenth century, these beautiful instruments were produced for the next two hundred years to the same design, and played a significant role in the growth of maritime trade, ultimately helping to shape the world as we know it today. In The Marine Chronometer, the author explains the workings of the chronometer and highlights some of the most significant makers and provides hints for maintenance. Topics covered include: -The problem of longitude -The early sea clocks -Developments in France and England -The mechanism of the chronometer -Caring for chronometers AUTHOR John Cronin studied horology at Bradford Technical College, where he was awarded a gold medal and a British Horological Institute prize for the national exams, before being elected to Fellowship of the Institute. John was the winner of the 1994 Artist Craftsman competition of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers and is now closely involved with ICON [the Institute of Conservation]. He is one of just ten horologists who have gained accreditation with the institute as professional conservators, and is the only member specializing in chronometer work. SALES POINTS * Provides a comprehensive history of this intriguing piece of navigational equipment * An invaluable reference work for maritime history enthusiasts and clock collectors * Explains the working of the chronometer and provides hints for care and maintenance * Superbly illustrated with 146 colour photographs * John Cronin is a Fellow of the British Horological Institute and is one of only ten horologists with the Institute of Conservation ILLUSTRATIONS 146 colour photos *
Download or read book The Marine Chronometer written by Rupert Thomas Gould and published by . This book was released on 1923 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Marine Chronometers at Greenwich written by Jonathan Betts and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-03 with total page 848 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Marine Chronometers at Greenwich is the fifth, and largest, of the distinguished series of catalogues of instruments in the collections of the National Maritime Museum. Housed at the Royal Observatory Greenwich — the 'home of time' and the Prime Meridian of the world — this extraordinary collection, which includes the celebrated marine timekeepers by John Harrison (1693-1776), is generally considered to be the finest of its kind in existence. The book is however much more than just a catalogue, and includes an accessible and engaging history of the chronometer, revealing why these instruments were important in our scientific and cultural history, and explaining, in simple terms, how they worked and were used. A comprehensive Glossary and Bibliography are included to ensure any technicalities are explained and that the reader has suggestions for useful 'further reading'. Over 480 photographs and illustrations, including many fine macro-photographs and line drawings, illustrate the 'jewel-like' beauty of the chronometer's construction and explain the function and subtleties of its mechanism. A chapter on 'How the Chronometer was Made', describes the fine sub-division of labour used to create these special machines, from bare metal, right up to delivery on board ship, and brief biographies of the makers tell the human story behind this important nineteenth-century industry. Another chapter, 'The Evolution of the Chronometer', aimed at collectors, historians and curators, provides clearly structured information on assessing and dating the chronometer, something many find difficult. And, for the dedicated specialist, there is extensive tabulated data on the technical structure of this important collection, a unique resource for future research.
Download or read book Longitude written by Dava Sobel and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-07-05 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of one man's forty-year obsession to find a solution to the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--"the longitude problem." Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day-and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations hung on a resolution. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution-a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.
Download or read book The Ship s Chronometer written by Marvin E. Whitney and published by Amer Watchmakers Inst. This book was released on 1984-06-01 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Time and Navigation written by Andrew Kenneth Johnston and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you want to know where you are, you need a good clock. The surprising connection between time and placeais explored inaTime and Navigation- The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There, the companion book to the National Air and Space Museum exhibition of the same name. Today we use smartphones and GPS, but navigating has not always been so easy. The oldest "clock" is Earth itself, and the oldest means of keeping time came from observing changes in the sky. Early mariners like the Vikings accomplished amazing feats of navigation without using clocks at all. Pioneering seafarers in the Age of Exploration used dead reckoning and celestial navigation; later innovations such as sextants and marine chronometers honed these techniques by measuring latitude and longitude. When explorers turned their sights to the skies, they built on what had been learned at sea. For example, Charles Lindbergh used a bubble sextant on his record-breaking flights. World War II led to the development of new flight technologies, notably radio navigation, since celestial navigation was not suited for all-weather military operations. These forms of navigation were extended and enhanced when explorers began guiding spacecraft into space and across the solar system. Astronauts combined celestial navigation technology with radio transmissions. The development of the atomic clock revolutionized space flight because it could measure billionths of a second, thereby allowing mission teams to navigate more accurately. Scientists and engineers applied these technologies to navigation on earth to develop space-based time and navigation services such as GPS that is used every day by people from all walks of life. While the history of navigation is one of constant change and innovation, it is also one of remarkable continuity. Time and Navigation tells the story of navigation to help us understand where we have been and how we got there so that we can understand where we are going.
Download or read book Chronometer Makers of the World written by Tony Mercer and published by Robert Hale. This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many years, Tony Mercer, grandson of the most enduring English maker, has studied and collected a huge amount of information about marine chronometers, instruments which enabled explorers and the Royal Navy to map the world, the Navy to police it, and merchant venturers to sail in relative safety. The purpose of the chronometer is reviewed largely as a navigational aid for ocean-going vessels, but also for survey, medical, and other activities calling for precise time measurement. Representative examples of chronometers and deck watches by international makers--from the earliest known to contemporary instruments--are illustrated in both color and black and white. A comprehensive list of makers and craftsmen brings together details of men who worked in the industry, their places of work, and dates and serial numbers for their instruments.
Download or read book Time Restored written by Jonathan Betts and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2011-05-19 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of Rupert T. Gould (1890-1948), the polymath and horologist. A remarkable man, Lt Cmdr Gould made important contributions in an extraordinary range of subject areas throughout his relatively short and dramatically troubled life. From antique clocks to scientific mysteries, from typewriters to the first systematic study of the Loch Ness Monster, Gould studied and published on them all. With the title The Stargazer, Gould was an early broadcaster on the BBC's Children's Hour when, with his encyclopaedic knowledge, he became known as The Man Who Knew Everything. Not surprisingly, he was also part of that elite group on BBC radio who formed The Brains Trust, giving on-the-spot answers to all manner of wide ranging and difficult questions. With his wide learning and photographic memory, Gould awed a national audience, becoming one of the era's radio celebrities. During the 1920s Gould restored the complex and highly significant marine timekeepers constructed by John Harrison (1693-1776), and wrote the unsurpassed classic, The Marine Chronometer, its History and Development. Today he is virtually unknown, his horological contributions scarcely mentioned in Dava Sobel's bestseller Longitude. The TV version of Longitude, in which Jeremy Irons played Rupert Gould, did at least introduce Gould's name to a wider public. Gould suffered terrible bouts of depression, resulting in a number of nervous breakdowns. These, coupled with his obsessive and pedantic nature, led to a scandalously-reported separation from his wife and cost him his family, his home, his job, and his closest friends. In this first-ever biography of Rupert Gould, Jonathan Betts, the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Senior Horologist, has given us a compelling account of a talented but flawed individual. Using hitherto unknown personal journals, the family's extensive collection of photographs, and the polymath's surviving records and notes, Betts tells the story of how Gould's early life, his naval career, and his celebrity status came together as this talented Englishman restored part of Britain's - and the world's - most important technical heritage: John Harrison's marine timekeepers.
Download or read book Mercer Chronometers written by Tony Mercer and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ships Clocks and Stars written by Richard Dunn and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-11-04 with total page 601 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A tale of eighteenth-century invention and competition, commerce and conflict, this is a lively, illustrated, and accurate chronicle of the search to solve “the longitude problem,” the question of how to determine a ship’s position at sea—and one that changed the history of mankind. Ships, Clocks, and Stars brings into focus one of our greatest scientific stories: the search to accurately measure a ship’s position at sea. The incredible, illustrated volume reveals why longitude mattered to seafaring nations, illuminates the various solutions that were proposed and tested, and explores the invention that revolutionized human history and the man behind it, John Harrison. Here, too, are the voyages of Captain Cook that put these revolutionary navigational methods to the test. Filled with astronomers, inventors, politicians, seamen, and satirists, Ships, Clocks, and Stars explores the scientific, political, and commercial battles of the age, as well as the sailors, ships, and voyages that made it legend—from Matthew Flinders and George Vancouver to the voyages of the Bounty and the Beagle. Featuring more than 150 photographs specially commissioned from Britain’s National Maritime Museum, this evocative, detailed, and thoroughly fascinating history brings this age of exploration and enlightenment vividly to life.
Download or read book Fascination of Russian Watches written by Michael H. Ceyp and published by . This book was released on 1995-01 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude written by and published by . This book was released on 2023-02-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude, in a revised and updated edition, is a fascinating account of the life and achievements of John Harrison, the man who designed and built the first accurate marine chronometers. Inspired by the prize offered in 1714 to provide a solution to the problem of determining longitudinal position at sea, John Harrison - a carpenter by trade - set out to develop portable clocks that would rival even the most precise watches of the time. His famous 'H' timepieces went on to revolutionise sea travel and save many thousands of lives. Now housed in the collection of Royal Observatory Greenwich, they are milestones in clock- making history. Beautifully illustrated with images that showcase the intricate detail and mechanisms of the timepieces,John Harrison and the Quest for Longitudetells the story of one man driven by the need to solve one of the greatest practical problems of his time.
Download or read book The Marine Chronometer written by Rupert Thomas Gould and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Watch and Clock Making written by David Glasgow and published by . This book was released on 1885 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Perfectionists written by Simon Winchester and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Another gem from one of the world’s justly celebrated historians specializing in unusual and always fascinating subjects and people.” — Booklist (starred review) The revered New York Times bestselling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement—precision—in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future. The rise of manufacturing could not have happened without an attention to precision. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in eighteenth-century England, standards of measurement were established, giving way to the development of machine tools—machines that make machines. Eventually, the application of precision tools and methods resulted in the creation and mass production of items from guns and glass to mirrors, lenses, and cameras—and eventually gave way to further breakthroughs, including gene splicing, microchips, and the Hadron Collider. Simon Winchester takes us back to origins of the Industrial Age, to England where he introduces the scientific minds that helped usher in modern production: John Wilkinson, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Bramah, Jesse Ramsden, and Joseph Whitworth. It was Thomas Jefferson who later exported their discoveries to the fledgling United States, setting the nation on its course to become a manufacturing titan. Winchester moves forward through time, to today’s cutting-edge developments occurring around the world, from America to Western Europe to Asia. As he introduces the minds and methods that have changed the modern world, Winchester explores fundamental questions. Why is precision important? What are the different tools we use to measure it? Who has invented and perfected it? Has the pursuit of the ultra-precise in so many facets of human life blinded us to other things of equal value, such as an appreciation for the age-old traditions of craftsmanship, art, and high culture? Are we missing something that reflects the world as it is, rather than the world as we think we would wish it to be? And can the precise and the natural co-exist in society?
Download or read book Time in History written by G. J. Whitrow and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1989 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this intriguing book G.J. Whitrow traces the evolution of our general awareness of time and its significance from the dawn of history to the present day. His absorbing study ranges from Ancient Egypt and Persia, Greece, and Israel, to the Islamic world, India and China, and Europe andAmerica, showing the different ways time has been perceived by various civilizations.
Download or read book Military Timepieces written by Marvin E. Whitney and published by American Watchmakers Institute. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 667 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated catalogue of military timepieces, including aircraft, marine, meteorological, and tank clocks. Contains technical specifications and diagrams.
