NOVA S26E1: Lost at Sea: The Search for Longitude
- Aired: 1998-10-06
- Time: 21:00:00
- Runtime: 60 minutes
Overview
In 1714, following a maritime disaster, British Parliament offers £20,000 for the first reliable method of determining longitude on a ship at sea. It's known that longitude can be found by comparing a ship's local time to the time at the port of origin. The challenge is finding a clock—a chronometer—that can keep time at sea, where temperature changes, humidity, gravity and a ship's movement affect accuracy. NOVA chronicles the seventeenth-century journey to determine longitude.