The Technical Challenge
Arnold's facility and ingenuity, coupled with his undoubted charm brought him to the attention of the Astronomer Royal Neville Maskelyne, who at this time was seeking a watchmaker skilled enough to make a copy of John Harrison's successful marine timekeeper. A full and detailed description of this watch was published by the Board of Longitude in 1767, entitled "The Principles of Mr. Harrison's Timekeeper", the intention clearly being for it to act as a blueprint for future quantity production. In fact it was a highly complex and technically very advanced piece of micro engineering, and capable of being reproduced by less than a handful of watchmakers. However, the challenge was taken up by Larcum Kendall, who spent two years to make a copy (now known as "K1") that cost £450, a huge sum at the time. Although successful as a precision timekeeper, the Admiralty wanted a timekeeper on every major ship, and Kendall's was too expensive and took too long to make. Kendall made a simplified version (K2) in 1771, but this too was costly, and not as accurate as the original.
In retrospect therefore, it was a significant occasion when in 1767 Neville Maskelyne presented John Arnold with a newly printed copy of the "Principles of Mr. Harrison's Timekeeper", evidently with a view to encourage him to make a precision timekeeper of the same kind. Following this, Maskelyne encouraged Arnold by employing him on several occasions, mostly in connection with watch and clock jewelling. In 1769 Arnold modified Maskelyne's centre seconds watch by John Ellicott, changing the cylinder escapement from steel to one made of sapphire. This watch he lent to the Astronomer William Wales for use in assessing the practicability of Maskelyne's Lunar distance method for finding the ship's Longitude during the voyage of the Transit of Venus expedition to the West Indies in 1769. Around this time Arnold also seems to have started to think about making an accurate timekeeper to find the Longitude.
Read more about this topic: John Arnold
Famous quotes containing the words technical and/or challenge:
“In effect, to follow, not to force the public inclination; to give a direction, a form, a technical dress, and a specific sanction, to the general sense of the community, is the true end of legislature.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
“The challenge of screenwriting is to say much in little and then take half of that little out and still preserve an effect of leisure and natural movement.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)