NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Nevil Maskelyne.
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2004 Jul 17, 17:27 -0400
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2004 Jul 17, 17:27 -0400
Edwin Danson, in his excellent book, "Drawing the Line, How Mason and Dixon Surveyed the Most Famous Boundary in America," John Wiley, NY 2001, talked about this issue of Maskelyne vs Harrison. First, I might comment that Danson's book would have benefitted greatly from a good editor, although it certainly is readable enough. Danson states that Maskelyne was appointed by the Board of Longitude (Prize) to test Harrison's H3. "On the voyage out, Maskelyne had experimented with Mayer's latest lunar tables, was delighted with the results, and let everyone in Brigetown [Barbados] know it, much to young Harrison's anger." "Young Harrison" was John Harrison's son, William. Thus, essentially, both methods ironically came to fruition at exactly the same moment, although Harrison's H3 needed to be simplified to be constructed at affordable prices. Maskelyne was promoting lunars and Harrison his "watch." Maskelyne definitely was in a position of conflict of interest. I also think that Sobel makes a very good case that Maskelyne indeed thwarted Harrison from receiving the prize, although he and Mayer also should have received it, clearly. Since Sobel was writing about Harrison, she takes his side, which very clearly was in opposition to Maskelyne. That Harrison intensely resented Maskelyne is clear from Danson's statement about "young Harrison's anger." What's really needed is an equally skillful biography of Maskelyne, to show his accomplishments. I might note that Sobel very much appreciated Maskelyne's contribution, noting the use of lunars to rate chronometers, which persisted up to the time of radio, although less so as ships started carrying two. I might say I regret taking Frank Reed's side in this issue since Frank so tenaciously clung to the hypothesis that Slocum took but one lunar, whereas Slocum almost certainly was bragging about finding a fault in his tables, which would have been an accomplishment of much pride, worthy of note, and easily remembered, as opposed to a humdrum mention of a yet another lunar. Fred Hebard