Longitude2000

John Harrison:
I may not be spared to complete another watch, but I've begun one. It will not, gentleman, be a copy, because I am mindful of the Act of Queen Anne, to which I've clung for over 50 years like a, like a shipwrecked sailor to a barrel -- "to be practical," and that's been my gospel and my creed. I have an idea that the heat compensation must be within the balance of the watch and not around it. And this morning I made this.

John Harrison:
I tried the idea in my first sea clock, over 40 years ago. I failed. I didn't undertand it; so much I didn't understand. A compensating balance wheel will simplify the adjustment of the machine, so others may make my watches more easily... should God grant me the time to complete my labours.