Harrison Decoded

Towards a Perfect Pendulum Clock

By: Jonathan Betts (Editor), Rory McEvoy (Editor)

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Paperback | 29 June 2023

At a Glance

Paperback
208 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.5 x 13.8 x 2.2

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Harrison Decoded: Towards a Perfect Pendulum Clock brings together the output of a forty-year collaborative research project that unpicked and put into practice the fine details of John Harrison's extraordinary pendulum clock system. Harrison predicted that his unique method of making pendulum clocks could provide as much as one-hundred-times the stability of those made by his contemporaries. However, his final publication, which promised to describe the system, was a chaotic jumble of information, much of which had nothing to do with clockwork. One contemporary reviewer of Harrison's book could only suggest that the end result was a product of Harrison's 'superannuated dotage.'

The focus of this book centres on the making, adjusting, and testing of Clock B which was the subject of various trials at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The modern history of Clock B is accompanied by scientific analysis of the clock system, Clock B's performance, the methods of data-gathering alongside historical perspectives on Harrison's clockmaking, that of his contemporaries, and some evaluation of the possible influence of early 18th century scientific thought.

Industry Reviews

This is an intriguing book that anyone interested in clocks and their history will enjoy. * John Haine, University of Bristol, Journal for the History of Astronomy *
Revolutionary work. * Bob Frishman, Kronoscope *
The essays in this fascinating book effectively chart the progress of an extraordinary experiment, conducted over decades but with a recent, and very remarkable outcome * James Nye, The Antiquarian Horological Society Chairman *
Combining historical context, technical details and experimental information, this well-illustrated edited collection describes the challenges as well as the delights of historical reconstruction. * Patricia Fara, Emeritus Fellow of Claire College, Cambridge *
The authors provide a wonderful vindication of a native genius, following the original work of Martin Burgess. They give us an explanation of an alternative technology to the one accepted for the past 300 years, when it comes to the design of a mechanical precision timekeeper. * Anthony Randall, Winner of the Tomplon Medal from The Clockmaker's Company *
This authoritative and accessible collection of essays tells the fascinating story of [the great clockmaker John Harrison], and how Harrison's enigmatic and astute eighteenth-century account of high-reliability pendulum motion and timekeeping was at last vindicated. * Simon Schaffer, University of Cambridge *

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