--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With his marine clocks, John Harrison…" description: "\"“With his marine clocks, John Harrison tested the waters of space-time. He succeeded, against all odds, in using the fourth—temporal—dimension to link ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/dava-sobel-29490_astronomy_with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tes_696724.jpg" --- # With his marine clocks, John Harrison tested the waters of… ![“With his marine clocks, John Harrison tested the waters of space-time. He succeeded, against all odds, in using the fourth—temporal—dimension to link points on the three-dimensional globe. He wrested the world’s whereabouts from the stars, and locked the secret in a pocket watch.” quote by Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/dava-sobel-29490_astronomy_with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tes_696724.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/dava-sobel-29490_astronomy_with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tes_696724.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/dava-sobel-29490_astronomy_with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tes_696724.jpg) > ““With his marine clocks, John Harrison tested the waters of space-time. He succeeded, against all odds, in using the fourth—temporal—dimension to link points on the three-dimensional globe. He wrested the world’s whereabouts from the stars, and locked the secret in a pocket watch.”” [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Harrison used precise marine clocks to determine longitude, turning time into a spatial coordinate and solving navigation. **In simple terms:** Time can locate places on Earth. Key Takeaway Use precise timing to solve spatial problems. Themes navigation science innovation Mood inquisitive respectful Type historical educational When to use this quote - maritime navigation - astronomy - GPS development Key Concepts chronometry spacetime longitude determination Questions to Reflect On - How does precise timekeeping affect modern navigation? - Can similar principles map other dimensions? A Different Perspective Limited to Earth's surface; not directly applicable to deep space. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Clocks John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clocks-john-5524177/) [Dimensional Globe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dimensional-globe-5524179/) [Longitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longitude/) [Longitude-act](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longitude-act-110878/) [Marine Clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marine-clocks-5524178/) [Space time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-time/) [Time Succeeded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-succeeded-1025421/) ## Related quotes > [“Having established itself securely on shipboard, the chronometer was soon taken for granted, like any other essential thing, and the whole question of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/having-established-itself-securely-on-shipboard-the-chronometer-was/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“The British Parliament, in its famed Longitude Act of 1714, set the highest bounty of all, naming a prize equal to a king’s ransom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/the-british-parliament-in-its-famed-longitude-act-of-1714-set-the/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“In the wake of the Longitude Act, the concept of “discovering the longitude” became a synonym for attempting the impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/in-the-wake-of-the-longitude-act-the-concept-of-discovering-the/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [I feel here that this time they have succeeded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/i-feel-here-that-this-time-they-have-succeeded/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [Truly, everything in this world depended on time. Time ripened all. If you had time, you succeeded in working the human mud internally and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/truly-everything-in-this-world-depended-on-time-time-ripened-all-if/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“One degree of longitude equals four minutes of time the world over, but in terms of distance, one degree shrinks from sixty-eight miles at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/one-degree-of-longitude-equals-four-minutes-of-time-the-world-over/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“The zero-degree parallel of latitude is fixed by the laws of nature, while the zero-degree meridian of longitude shifts like the sands of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/the-zero-degree-parallel-of-latitude-is-fixed-by-the-laws-of-nature/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“the beaches. In literally hundreds of instances, a vessel’s ignorance of her longitude led swiftly to her destruction. Launched on a mix of bravery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/the-beaches-in-literally-hundreds-of-instances-a-vessel-s-ignorance/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“—but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve got to?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/but-then-i-wonder-what-latitude-or-longitude-i-ve-got-to/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [When young Galileo, then a student at Pisa, noticed one day during divine service a chandelier swinging backwards and forwards, and convinced himself, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-von-helmholtz/when-young-galileo-then-a-student-at-pisa-noticed-one-day-during/) [Hermann von Helmholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-von-helmholtz/) > [I have all the world around me. My walls are 180 East Longitude and 90 North and 90 South Latitude… Adventure is my guidon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/i-have-all-the-world-around-me-my-walls-are-180-east-longitude-and-90/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [“Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end? “I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?” she said aloud.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/down-down-down-would-the-fall-never-come-to-an-end-i-wonder-how-many/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [Where in this small-talking world can I find A longitude with no platitude?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-fry/where-in-this-small-talking-world-can-i-find-a-longitude-with-no/) [Christopher Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-fry/) > [People are using GPS systems to find millions of little hidden objects throughout the world - often as simple as a piece of Tupperware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/people-are-using-gps-systems-to-find-millions-of-little-hidden/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Women, are a map, Avik. You've got to understand their longitude, and how much latitude you can take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell/women-are-a-map-avik-you-ve-got-to-understand-their-longitude-and-how/) [Walter Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell/) ## More by Dava Sobel > [ “\[John\] Harrison \[could not\] express himself clearly in writing… No matter how brilliantly ideas formed in his mind, or crystallized in his clockworks, his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/john-harrison-could-not-express-himself-clearly-in-writing-no-matter/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [Earlier maps had underestimated the distances to other continents and exaggerated the outlines of individual nations. Now global dimensions could be set, with authority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/earlier-maps-had-underestimated-the-distances-to-other-continents-and/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“He wrested the world's whereabouts from the stars, and locked the secret in a pocket watch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/he-wrested-the-world-s-whereabouts-from-the-stars-and-locked-the/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“Any clock that can track this sideral schedule proves itself as perfect as God's magnificent clockwork. Dava Sobel”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/any-clock-that-can-track-this-sideral-schedule-proves-itself-as/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“the beaches. In literally hundreds of instances, a vessel’s ignorance of her longitude led swiftly to her destruction. Launched on a mix of bravery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/the-beaches-in-literally-hundreds-of-instances-a-vessel-s-ignorance/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“Time is to clock as mind is to brain. The clock or watch somehow contains the time. And yet time refuses to be bottled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/time-is-to-clock-as-mind-is-to-brain-the-clock-or-watch-somehow/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“And by this experience his knowledge was reduced to diffidence, so that when asked how sounds were created he used to answer tolerantly that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/and-by-this-experience-his-knowledge-was-reduced-to-diffidence-so/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [And since time sets its own tempo, like a heartbeat or an ebb tide, timepieces don't really keep time. They just keep up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/and-since-time-sets-its-own-tempo-like-a-heartbeat-or-an-ebb-tide/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“As earnestly as men may seek to understand the workings of the universe, they must remember that God is not hampered by their limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/as-earnestly-as-men-may-seek-to-understand-the-workings-of-the/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“There was only one trial of Galileo, and yet it seems there were a thousand—the suppression of science by religion, the defense of individualism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/there-was-only-one-trial-of-galileo-and-yet-it-seems-there-were-a/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“To have done work which is widely recognized, to have gained the sincere esteem of many and the real love of even a few,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/to-have-done-work-which-is-widely-recognized-to-have-gained-the/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“In the wake of the Longitude Act, the concept of “discovering the longitude” became a synonym for attempting the impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/in-the-wake-of-the-longitude-act-the-concept-of-discovering-the/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“In 1616, a pope and a cardinal inquisitor reprimanded Galileo, warning him to curtail his forays into the supernal realms. The motions of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/in-1616-a-pope-and-a-cardinal-inquisitor-reprimanded-galileo-warning/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“The zero-degree parallel of latitude is fixed by the laws of nature, while the zero-degree meridian of longitude shifts like the sands of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/the-zero-degree-parallel-of-latitude-is-fixed-by-the-laws-of-nature/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [“The British Parliament, in its famed Longitude Act of 1714, set the highest bounty of all, naming a prize equal to a king’s ransom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/the-british-parliament-in-its-famed-longitude-act-of-1714-set-the/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) [Explore all 18 Dava Sobel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) ## More Astronomy quotes > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [Wen daylight turns to a darkened hue, D lovely stars hinting at u, ur heart beat tells u something true, That some 1 badly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butterfly-kisses/wen-daylight-turns-to-a-darkened-hue-d-lovely-stars-hinting-at-u-ur/) [Butterfly\_Kisses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/butterfly-kisses/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Astronomers have built telescopes which can show myriads of stars unseen before; but when a man looks through a tear in his own eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/astronomers-have-built-telescopes-which-can-show-myriads-of-stars/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [From the grasses in the field to the stars in the sky, each one is doing just that; and there is such profound peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/from-the-grasses-in-the-field-to-the-stars-in-the-sky-each-one-is/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“Sentinels of trees breathe life into bodies of earthly flesh As their mighty arms reach to the stars we join in their quest for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramon-ravenswood/sentinels-of-trees-breathe-life-into-bodies-of-earthly-flesh-as-their/) [Ramon Ravenswood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramon-ravenswood/) > [“If there are no stars on the sky, you must try to be happy with the shining streetlights!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-there-are-no-stars-on-the-sky-you-must-try-to-be-happy-with-the/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) > [Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/your-head-s-like-mine-like-all-our-heads-big-enough-to-contain-every/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars." ... quote has been credited to Les Brown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylviek/shoot-for-the-moon-even-if-you-miss-it-you-will-land-among-the-stars/) [Sylviek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylviek/) > [When certain stars take you under their wing, it does help as they gauge your potential and are willing to work with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-bhatt/when-certain-stars-take-you-under-their-wing-it-does-help-as-they/) [Vikram Bhatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-bhatt/) > [We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. We are beholden to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-were-put-here-as-witnesses-to-the-miracle-of-life-we-see-the-stars/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. The cosmic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-reason-so-many-of-us-are-obsessed-with-becoming-stars-is-because/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) [Browse all 6,190 Astronomy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“With his marine clocks, John Harrison tested the waters of space-time. He succeeded, against all odds, in using the fourth—temporal—dimension to link points on the three-dimensional globe. He wrested the world’s whereabouts from the stars, and locked the secret in a pocket watch.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dava Sobel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tested-the-waters-of-space-time/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Astronomy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tested-the-waters-of-space-time/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/dava-sobel-29490_astronomy_with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tes_696724.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/dava-sobel-29490_astronomy_with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tes_696724.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/dava-sobel-29490_astronomy_with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tes_696724.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“With his marine clocks, John Harrison tested the waters of space-time. He succeeded, against all odds, in…” — Dava Sobel", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Dava Sobel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“With his marine clocks, John Harrison...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tested-the-waters-of-space-time/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/with-his-marine-clocks-john-harrison-tested-the-waters-of-space-time/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```