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See also:HARRISON, See also:JOHN (1693—1776) , See also:English horologist, was the son of a See also:carpenter, and was See also:born at Faulby, near See also:Pontefract in See also:Yorkshire, in the See also:year 1693. Thence his See also:father and See also:family removed in 170o to See also:Barrow in See also:Lincolnshire. See also:Young Harrison at first learned his father's See also:trade, and worked at it for several years, at the same See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time occasionally making a little See also:money by See also:land-measuring and See also:surveying. The See also:bent of his mind, however, was towards See also:mechanical pursuits. In 1715 he made a See also:clock with wooden wheels, which is in the patent museum at See also:South See also:Kensington, and in 1726 he devised his ingenious " gridiron pendulum," which maintains its length unaltered in spite of See also:variations of temperature (see CLOCK). Another invention of his was a recoil clock escapement in which See also:friction was reduced to a minimum, and he was the first to employ the commonly used and effective See also:form of " going ratchet," which is a See also:spring arrangement for keeping the timepiece going at its usual See also:rate during the See also:interval of being See also:wound up.
In Harrison's time the See also:British See also:government had become fully alive to the See also:necessity of determining more accurately the See also:longitude at See also:sea. For this purpose they passed an See also:act in 1713 offering rewards of £1o,000, £15,000 and £20,000 to any who should construct chronometers that would determine the longitude within 6o, 40 and 30 M. respectively. Harrison applied himself vigorously to the task, and in 1735 went to the See also:Board of Longitude with a See also:watch which he also showed to See also:Edmund See also:Halley, See also:George See also:Graham and others. Through their See also:influence he was allowed to proceed in a See also:- KING
- KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
- KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
- KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
- KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
- KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
- KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
- KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
- KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
- KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
- KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
- KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)
king's See also:ship to See also:Lisbon to test it; and the result was so satisfactory that he was paid £500 to carry out further improvements. Harrison worked at the subject with the utmost perseverance, and, after making several watches, went up to See also:London in 1761 with one which he considered almost perfect. His son See also:- WILLIAM
- WILLIAM (1143-1214)
- WILLIAM (1227-1256)
- WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
- WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
- WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
- WILLIAM, 13TH
William was sent on a voyage to See also:Jamaica to test it; and, on his return to See also:Portsmouth in 1762, it was found to have lost
only i See also:minute 54z seconds. This was surprisingly accurate, as it determined the longitude within 18 m., and Harrison claimed the full See also:reward of £20,000; but though from time to time he received sums on See also:account, it was not till 1773 that he was paid in full. In these watches See also:compensation for changes of temperature was applied for the first time by means of a " compensation-curb," designed to alter the effective length of the See also:balance-spring in proportion to the expansion or contraction caused by variations of temperature. Harrison died in London on the 24th of See also:March 1776. His want of See also:early See also:education was See also:felt by him greatly throughout See also:life. He was unfortunately never able to See also:express his ideas clearly in See also:writing, although in conversation he could give a very precise and exact account of his many intricate mechanical contrivances.
Among his writings were a Description concerning such Mechanism as will afford a See also:Nice or True See also:Mensuration of Time (1775), and The Principles of Mr Harrison's Timekeeper, published by See also:- ORDER
- ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
- ORDER, HOLY
order of the Commissioners of Longitude (1767).
End of Article: HARRISON, JOHN (1693—1776)
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