to aid in such
experiments. It will be remembered from what has been above
stated, that a reward of 10,000L. was to be given to the person
who should contrive a method of determining the longitude within
one degree of a great circle, or 60 geographical miles; 15,000L.
within 40 geographical miles; and 20,000L. within 30 geographical
miles.
It will, in these days, be scarcely believed that little more
than a hundred and fifty years ago a prize of not less than ten
thousand pounds should have been offered for a method of
determining the longitude within sixty miles, and that double the
amount should have been offered for a method of determining it
within thirty miles! The amount of these rewards is sufficient
proof of the fearful necessity for improvement which then existed
in the methods of navigation. And yet, from the date of the
passing of the Act in 1714 until the year 1736, when Harrison
finished his first timepiece, nothing had been done towards
ascertaining the longitude more accurately, even within the wide
limits specified by the Act of Parliament. Although several
schemes had been projected, none of them had proved successful,
and the offered rewards therefore still remained unclaimed.
To return to Harrison. After reaching his home at Barrow, after
his visit to London in 1728, he began his experiments for the
construction of a marine chronometer.
Pages:
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127