John Harrison, Grasshoppers, and an interesting rabbit hole
Posted: July 25th, 2020, 3:06 pm
Last week I was attending an online presentation with Dr. Steven Stahl and saw one of the most interesting clocks I have ever come across in the background of his home office. It was a variation of what seems to be identified as a Harrison Grasshopper Clock, named after none other than John Harrison who solved how to measure longitude with the creation of his H4 model.
The Grasshopper Clock is a modern representation of Harrison's H1 model, one of his earlier attempts to solve the longitude problem. My understanding is the modern equivalent utilizes his "grasshopper escapement," contributing to the name of the clock, and is fusee driven with a key wind 8 day reserve. One of the key features are dumbbell shaped pendulums that move simultaneously toward and away from each other which is what drew my attention.
If you're not familiar with the history of John Harrison I would definitely read more about him, seems like he was definitely ahead of his time.
Interesting article on The Atlantic
Anyway on to the pictures:
The Grasshopper Clock is a modern representation of Harrison's H1 model, one of his earlier attempts to solve the longitude problem. My understanding is the modern equivalent utilizes his "grasshopper escapement," contributing to the name of the clock, and is fusee driven with a key wind 8 day reserve. One of the key features are dumbbell shaped pendulums that move simultaneously toward and away from each other which is what drew my attention.
If you're not familiar with the history of John Harrison I would definitely read more about him, seems like he was definitely ahead of his time.
Interesting article on The Atlantic
Anyway on to the pictures:
