Harrison Decoded - McEvoy, Rory; Betts, Jonathan; (ed.) - Prospero Internet Bookshop

Harrison Decoded

Towards a Perfect Pendulum Clock
 
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Date of Publication:
 
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Short description:

This book is an exposition of the lesser-known work of the maverick clockmaker, John Harrison (1693-1776). McEvoy and Betts explore Harrison's background, methodology, and thinking. For those with a practical interest, the book is an excellent starting point for anyone wishing to make a pendulum clock.

Long description:
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.

This is an intriguing book that anyone interested in clocks and their history will enjoy.
Table of Contents:
Introducing the precision pendulum clock by Rory McEvoy
The origins of John Harrison's 'Pendulum-Clock' technology by Andrew King
Introducing Martin Burgess, clockmaker by William Andrewes
Rescuing Martin Burgess's Clock B by Donald Saff
Reflections on making clocks Harrison's way by Martin Burgess
Completing Clock B by Charles Frodsham et al
Adjusting and testing Clock B at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich by Jonathan Betts
Crunching the numbers: analysis of Clock B's performance at Greenwich by Tom van Baak
Decoding the Physical Theory of Harrison's Timekeepers by Mervyn Hobden
Analysis of the mechanisms for compensation in Clock B by David Harrison
Appendix: Update on Clock B by Rory McEvoy