John Harrison

A painting of John Harrison. (http://www.touristnetuk.com/em/lincolnshire/towns/all.htm)

A hero is someone who you can look up to. Someone who sticks to their word. A hero is a person who, without hesitation, does the right thing, even if it is difficult.

This is John Harrison's first seagoing time piece. (http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.775/John-Harrisons-first-marine-timekeeper-H1.html)

My hero is John Harrison. John was the son of a carpenter. He was born in 1673 in Yorkshire, England. In 1728, John Harrison made the first accurate clock at his home in England. Then, more important, in the 1670’s, he made the first clock that could keep accurate time while at sea.

Here is John Harrison's fourth clock (http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/lsd/harmap.html)

Knowing the time at a chosen point on earth is important for navigation since it is the only way to find you accurate position in terms of longitude (East-West). He started by trying to get his pendulum clock to adapt to the motion of the ship, but he soon found out that it was impossible. He then found, by accident, that a watch, which is unaffected by motion, could be made accurate enough for navigation. His final clock was based on a watch. His fourth clock was successful in 1762. My ancestor, Captain James Cook, took a Harrison clock with him on his voyages to the Pacific and this kept him safe and with it he could find his way around and even sail back to his favorite places later. Mr. Harrison’s clock was not replaced with another kind of clock until the 1950s, about 280 years later.

John Harrison did all these great things because he believed in his God and felt that God wanted man to be able to go around his creation in safety. Also, he wanted to earn the prize of twenty thousand pounds for his son. While he was testing his first clock, it saved a fleet of ships and the men aboard on a trip coming back from Lisbon. He saw for himself how important accurate navigation was.

I look up to John Harrison because he sticks to his word. He, without hesitation, did the right thing, and sometimes, it was difficult. Because of his effort many lives were saved. John Harrison makes a wonderful hero.