All the clockmaker had to do was use a sundial to set his clock
>at noon.
For extra accuracy he could set his clock at midnight as well. He'd need to splash out on a luminous sundial, though.
Re: Somehow this has a familiar ring to it
Aug 13, 2003
4 Replies
Wasn't the whole point of a ship's chronometer it wasn't set to local time but to say GMT. Otherwise its not a lot of use in finding your longitude.
Correct. That's why I posted a link for a "ship's clock" not a chronometer.
In message , BillR writes
It's a parable. Of course with the correct angle of dangle and a bit of maths,...
If you have an accurate local time and what port you are in, you can set the chronometer. I presume the navigator had access to the known co-ordinates of the port.
Christian.
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