US Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock, accurate to three nanoseconds (0.000000003 seconds) No better time to look back However, many governing bodies and organizations still require standalone chronometers (now often quartz) and someone trained to use one. In the ’90s, most seafaring vessels switched over to satellite-based computerized navigation systems.

By 1995, Sobel had witnessed the proliferation of relatively highly accurate quartz time-telling and was beginning to see the spread and use of personal devices with signal-controlled time. As the book pertains to characters and events long since dead and passed, a publication date of more than 20 years ago has little bearing on the book’s readability and engagement. Without Harrison and his chronometers, Great Britain would not have had the success it did in establishing and maintaining its empire, making one British astronomer’s personal vendetta against Harrison and his chronometers all the more damning.ĭava Sobel’s Longitude was originally published in 1995. John Harrison is the father of marine chronometers, the precise timing instruments that allowed ships from the 1700s into the 1900s to navigate by longitude. It’s a book about ingenuity, dedication, betrayal, eventual triumph, and a great deal of hard-earned money. Recommended by my father, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel ended up being exactly the watch-adjacent content I was looking for. One can only look at watches for so long before the obsession requires other inputs.

Longitude by davasobel