Longitude: The Brilliance Behind Solving the Sea's Most Challenging Riddle

About the film

In two interconnected tales, the marine chronometer was constructed in the 18th century by clockmaker John Harrison for safe maritime navigation, and in the 20th century, horologist Rupert Gould becomes fascinated with restoring it.

It was unthinkable to travel from Europe to the West Indies or the Americas in the eighteenth century without traveling along a coastline the entire way. You could determine your latitude by looking at the sun or stars, but you couldn't determine your longitude without the use of an accurate marine clock, which didn't exist. The British Government offered a sizeable prize for a method of establishing longitude at sea after far too many maritime disasters brought on by navigational mistakes. John Harrison, an artisan, is the primary character in this film (Sir Michael Gambon). He constructed a functioning clock that we now refer to as a maritime chronometer.

The film was released on January 2, 2000.

Movie Clips