Title: The Sea Clock

Speaker: Douglas S. Drumheller, PhD, Hyperbolic Consulting

Date/Time: August 10, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.      

Location: CSRI Building/Room 90 (Sandia NM)

Brief Abstract: In 1965 the British Astronomer Royal credited John Harrison, an 18th Century carpenter and clockmaker, with no less than a key roll in the building of the British Empire. Among many other devices still in everyday use Harrison invented the sea clock. With it he solved the Longitude Problem, and with it he enabled ships to determine their positions at sea. Three hundred years ago his wood and brass clocks achieved accuracies approaching one part in 10 million---an error of one day in 27 thousand years. Today they still go 40 to 50 years without either lubrication or repair. I’ll talk about the Longitude Problem, how Harrison solved it, and my own project to build a replica and with it navigate the Atlantic.

CSRI POC: Tim Trucano, 505-844-8812