Скачать или смотреть 5 Facts About Time In Navigation

The relationship between time and longitude revolutionized navigation and global exploration. Before the 18th century, sailors could determine latitude by the Sun’s height but not longitude—making ocean voyages dangerously uncertain. The key was time: since Earth rotates 360° every 24 hours, it turns 15° per hour. Knowing the time difference between one’s location and a fixed reference (like Greenwich, England) reveals longitude east or west.
In 1714, Britain’s Parliament offered the Longitude Prize for a precise method to determine longitude at sea. After decades of failure from astronomers and mathematicians, John Harrison, a self-taught English clockmaker, solved it. His invention—the marine chronometer—kept accurate time aboard rolling ships, even through temperature changes and humidity.
By comparing local noon (when the Sun is highest) to Greenwich Mean Time, navigators could calculate how far east or west they were. Harrison’s timepieces transformed exploration, trade, and naval power. Today, modern GPS satellites apply the same principle, using synchronized atomic clocks to triangulate positions on Earth within meters. From wooden ships to space-age technology, the measurement of time remains the foundation of global navigation.
Bibliography of the video:
1. Sobel, Dava. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. Walker & Company, 1995.
2. Howse, Derek. Greenwich Time and the Longitude. Philip Wilson Publishers, 1997.
3. Royal Museums Greenwich. “The Longitude Problem and John Harrison.” RMG.org, 2024.
4. National Institute of Standards and Technology. “How Atomic Clocks Work.” NIST.gov, 2024.
5. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “From the Sea to Space: The Evolution of Navigation.” Smithsonian.gov, 2023.