Longitude Prize

John Harrison was the man who solved the problem of measuring longitude. The measurement of longitude was a problem that came into sharp focus as people began making transoceanic voyages. When you are on a boat in the middle of the ocean, you need to know where you are!

Today a sailor has a number of choices, including the [satellite navigation system]?, GPS. The problem is still more acute when you are afloat in fog and think you are in the middle of the ocean. That was what happened to [Admiral Cloudsley Shovel]? and his fleet in 1707: they ran aground and over 2000 men were killed.

That incident in the general context of British maritime endeavors led to the establishment of a prize for finding a method of measuring longitude. It was worth around a million dollars or so in today's money.

"The Discovery of the Longitude is of such Consequence to Great Britain for the safety of the Navy and Merchant Ships is well as for the improvement of Trade that for want thereof many Ships have been retarded in their voyages, and many lost..." Parliament, in 1714?, voted to offer a reward (£10,000 for any method capable of determining a ship's longitude within one degree; £15,000, within 40 minutes, and £20,000 within one half a degree) "for such person or persons as shall discover the Longitude."