Subtlety of Inventions

The problem of pinpointing longitude plagued ship captains for hundreds of years causing a steep death toll of ships, cargo, and men. The inability to access accurate navigation in longitude bounded travel and exploration due to ships only utilizing one route for known destinations. This problem of the past parallels our current problem of finding an alternate energy source for our high maintenance society.

Longitude is the imaginary lines drawn from North to South causing them to criss-cross each other at the North Pole and the South Pole. In the past when there was no form of communication via electromagnetic waves and satellites, a ship navigator used relativity to pinpoint his location. Relative positions of celestial patterns in the sky compared to the position of the moon or a planet like Jupiter was one way of figuring out one's longitude. Many famous astronomers and mathematicians like Galileo, Robert Hooke, and Isaac Newton formulated thousands of pages of data mapping out the positions of stars to seek an accurate mathematical way of finding position. In theory this method sounds impeccable, but when in use on a ship under the circumstances of weather, pressure, and the lack of a mathematical mind makes this method faulty. Another way of locating longitudinal position is keeping track of the respective time on a traveling ship and the ship's land of departure and the difference in the time is then converted into degrees. The issue with this method was finding a clock that was able to withstand the conditions of a ship at sea.

The prior method of accurate navigation through celestial patterns was the main focus of most qualified mathematicians and astronomers. They merely ignored the second method of keeping time at two locations, but this was not their fault. The challenges of the prior method was more applicable to their backgrounds and their expertise, and this reflected on the abundance in time that it took to solve this problem. The latter method was ignored by the abstract thinkers, but was kept in mind by a professional who was an expert with his hands. John Harrison, who was an exceptional handyman and clock maker constructed a a series of clocks that stood up to the challenges of the latter method of keeping track of time on a ship. His first design, the H-1 contained parts which did not expand to the rapid changes in temperature, causing the accuracy of time to be more acute. He submitted this design to the Committee Board(mathematicians, ship captains, astronomers, government officials) and to them this clock was flawless, but Harrison carried the characteristic of the perfectionist as every visionary does. After the submission of the H-1, the unknown handyman was now employed in research by the British. He received funding and for the next twenty years he constructed the H-2, H-3, and finally the H-4.
Some characteristics of the H-4 are still used in modern clocks today.

I have noticed a pattern in great innovations and ideas that drive the future. Subtlety. John Harrison came out of nowhere and stood amongst the greatest minds on the world because of the boldness in his product which was something completely different than the idea of celestial patterns. While society was surrounding the success of the primary method, John Harrison changed the world with a method which contained no support. Like the problem of Longitude, subtlety will also solve our problem of finite and inefficient energy.