Longitude: a drama-documentary (1999)

Longitude is a drama-documentary that was first shown on Britain’s Channel 4 in 1999. Eight years later (2007) it was released on DVD. It is also available online. The total running time is ca. 198 minutes.

The film is based on Dava Sobel’s popular book Longitude, which was published in 1996 (paperback 2005). The book and the film tell the story about the long and difficult search to find the longitude when you are at sea and there is no land in sight.

The drama-documentary is written and directed by Charles Sturridge for Granada TV in the UK and the A & E Network in the US. The most important characters in this story are:

** John Harrison (1693-1776) played by Michael Gambon

** William Harrison (1728-1815) played by Ian Hart

** Nevil Maskelyne (1732-1811) played by Samuel West

** Earl Morton (1702-1768) played by Brian Cox

** Rupert Thomas Gould (1890-1948) played by Jeremy Irons

The most important institution in this story is the Board of Longitude, which was established by an act of the British parliament in 1714. Over the years the composition of the board would change when one member died and was replaced by another. The board had the authority to offer a prize of 20,000 British pounds – a huge fortune at the time – to anyone who could offer a practical and accurate solution to the problem.

Harrison senior was a carpenter by trade and a self-taught clockmaker. At first, clocks were merely a hobby, but later they became his main occupation. Working alone at first and later with his son, this self-taught clockmaker constructed several marine chronometers, which made it possible to determine the longitude at sea with a high degree of accuracy. Today these instruments are known as H-1, H-2, H-3, and H-4.

Two story-lines are intertwined in this film: the first one takes place in the 18th century where we follow the lives of Harrison senior and junior during their quest for perfection. The second one takes place in the 20th century where we follow the life of Rupert Gould (1890-1948), a former naval officer, who restored Harrison’s clocks during the years between World War One and World War Two.

THE PROBLEM:
HOW TO ESTABLISH YOUR POSITION AT SEA

Latitude refers to your position in relation to north and south, i.e. up or down on a map where north is up. It is relatively easy to establish the latitude. At 12 o’clock noon, when the sun reaches its highest point, the sailor must measure the angle between the horizon and the sun. On the equator, the angle will be 90 degrees. The further north (or south) he is, the smaller the angle will be. The angle will reveal the latitude. Hopefully, the sailor knows if he is in the northern or the southern hemisphere. The angle cannot tell him this!

Longitude refers to your position in relation to east and west, i.e. left or right on a map where north is up. Until the 18th century it was impossible to establish the longitude at sea with any kind of accuracy when no land was in sight.

In order to know your position you need to know the exact time in two different locations - (1) your home port and (2) your current position – and then compare them with each other. The difference will reveal the longitude.

The earth revolves around itself in 24 hours, i.e. 360 degrees in 24 hours. 360 divided by 24 = 15. So 1 hour corresponds to 15 degrees longitude. Let us say the sailor has a watch that is set to London time (Greenwich Mean Time, defined as longitude zero). And let us say he leaves England sailing west into the Atlantic Ocean. When the sun reaches its highest point, he knows it is 12 o’clock noon at his current position. Now he must check the watch. If it says 1 pm, his longitude is 15 degrees west. If it says 2 pm, his longitude is 30 degrees west, and so on.

However, until the 18th century no clock existed which could be used on a ship. Clocks were based on a pendulum and a firm foundation. If the pendulum is disturbed, the clock is no longer accurate. A ship at sea will rock and roll. And a pendulum cannot work. A new kind of clock was needed. Harrison wished to build this clock and he did it.

THE BACKGROUND:
THE DISASTER OF 1707

With no way to establish longitude with any accuracy, the captains of the ships that sailed the high seas were in way sailing with a blindfold. Accidents could happen, and they did. In October 1707 a British fleet was returning to England, but the admiral did not know his exact position. He thought he was in one place, but as it turned out, he was in another, and suddenly disaster struck: the fleet hit the Isles of Scilly, a small group of islands southwest of Cornwall. Four ships and thousands of sailors were lost in a matter of hours.

This event was one of the worst maritime disasters in the history of the British navy and to make it even worse it happened in their own waters. Seven years after this episode (1714), Parliament established the Board of Longitude which had the authority to award the prize of 20,000 British pounds to anyone who could offer a practical solution to the problem. Harrison wished to win this prize. So did Maskelyne, although he had a different approach (see below).

HARRISON AND THE BOARD OF LONGITUDE

Longitude is a great film. We follow Harrison in his quest. We learn how he identifies and solves the practical and technical problems step by step. We also learn how the Board of Longitude repeatedly refuses to offer Harrison the prize, even when it is clear to us (the viewers) that he deserves it because he has fulfilled the conditions demanded by the act of 1714.

Why did the board refuse him? Most members were not merely academic scholars, but also arrogant snobs, who could not accept that a self-taught clockmaker from a small town had discovered the solution to a difficult scientific problem.

At the time, many scholars believed the solution would be found by studying the moon and the stars. One proponent of this view was Maskelyne, Harrison’s rival and the devil in this drama.

Maskelyne did lunar observations on Barbados in 1764, and hoped to win the prize using this method. In the following year (1765) he was appointed as Astronomer Royal. In this capacity he became a member of the Board of Longitude. He had a conflict of interest. He wanted to win the prize. At the same time he was a member of the board which had the authority to award the prize he wanted. He should have recused himself from the board or abandoned the attempt to win the prize, but he did neither.

As an influential member of the board he made sure that the board issued a negative report about H-4 and set up several new conditions which Harrison had to fulfil if he wanted to remain in the race. It seems every time Harrison fulfilled one condition, the board would come up with two new demands. With this board, there was no way he could win.

H-1, a huge and heavy clock, was tested at sea during a voyage to Lisbon in 1736. Harrison senior went on this voyage during which his clock performed no so well going out, but quite well going back. Much better than Harrison himself, who was seasick all the time!

H-2 and H-3 were next, but they were never tested at sea. Harrison discovered a problem with them. So he moved on to the next project.

H-4, a handy pocket watch, was tested at sea during a voyage to Jamaica in 1761. Harrison junior went on this voyage during which the watch performed extremely well. But when he returned to England, the Board was still not satisfied. Another test at sea was needed.

H-4 was tested at sea again, this time during a voyage to Barbados in 1764. Harrison junior also went on this voyage during which the watch performed extremely well again.

However, the board still refused to recognise the quality of Harrison’s instrument. It was frustrating. In 1772, Harrison senior and junior tried a new approach. They appealed to King George III, who took an interest in the case. When father and son were granted an audience, the king was very sympathetic to their case.

In the end, Harrison got the money and the honour, but only because Parliament enacted a special law in 1773. The Board never gave it to him or anyone else, for that matter. Fortunately, Harrison senior lived long enough to see the happy end, but he had to wait for many years to see it.

John Harrison was a remarkable man. In the film, he knows how to express himself. Perhaps the film makes him more eloquent than he was in real life. It seems he was not always clear when he had to explain his case, but one thing is certain: he understood his metier extremely well. His persistence with the clocks and his patience with the board is impressive.

William Harrison supported his father through it all, not only by undertaking the two long voyages at sea, but also by attending numerous meetings with the cantankerous Board of Longitude.

The story of Harrison and the longitude is interesting and dramatic. It is also important because it reveals the prejudice which many academic scholars had against a layman such as Harrison. For them it was not important to find the best solution as soon as possible. For them it was important that a solution should come from one of their peers. Harrison was rebuffed time and again in many different ways. Most men would have given up, when treated like that, but Harrison was not most men. He believed a clock was a good solution and he was right. He believed he could build a clock that was accurate enough and he was right again.

Rupert Thomas Gould was a remarkable man as well, but he did not have an easy life, as we can see in this film. When his career in the navy ended, because of a nervous breakdown, he took an interest in Harrison’s old clocks and began to restore them. At first it was merely a hobby, but later it became an obsession.

He was a meticulous person. He could not let it go. He had to do this, for the science and for Harrison’s memory, but in the process he lost his job, his family, and his home. Towards the end of his short life it seems he did find some kind of balance. He became a science educator. In the film we see him giving a talk on the BBC radio program Children’s Hour.

A COMPARISON

It is obvious to compare Longitude with another documentary that is based on Dava Sobel’s book from 1996: Lost at Sea: The Search for Longitude was first broadcast on PBS in 1998. Ten years later (2008) it was released on DVD. It is also available online.

One obvious difference between the two films is the length: one is much shorter than the other. Lost at Sea runs for less than one hour (54 minutes), while Longitude runs for more than three hours (198 minutes).

Another difference is format and structure. Lost at Sea is a traditional documentary in which modern experts appear as witnesses from time to time, while Longitude is dramatized from the beginning to the end. This is one reason why it was a very expensive production. If you ask me, the actors play their roles very well.

Michael Gambon is convincing as Harrison senior, and so is Ian Hart as Harrison junior. Nevil Maskelyne is the devil in disguise, and Samuel West does a good job with this pompous character. Another devil in disguise is Lord Morton, the 14th Earl of Morton, who was a member of the Board of Longitude for many years. Brian Cox does a good job with this unpleasant character.

Jeremy Irons portrays Rupert Gould - the meticulous scholar, who had a difficult life - and he does so very well.

When I compare these two documentaries, I have to say that Lost at Sea is good, but Longitude is great. In other words, the former deserves a rating of four stars, while the latter deserves a rating of five stars.

PS. For more information, see the following books:

** Time Restored: The Harrison Timekeepers and R. T. Gould by Jonathan Betts (2011)

** Finding Longitude by Richard Dunn & Rebekah Higgitt (2014)

** Maskelyne: Astronomer Royal edited by Rebekah Higgitt (2014)

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Longitude,

A drama-documentary, written and directed by Charles Sturridge,

First aired on television 1999, released on DVD 2007,

Total running time: 198 minutes

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