The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude. The prize, established through an Act of Parliament (the Longitude Act) in 1714, was administered by the Board of Longitude.
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The measurement of longitude was a problem that came into sharp focus as people began making transoceanic voyages. Determining latitude was relatively easy in that it could be found from the altitude of the sun at noon with the aid of a table giving the sun's declination for the day.[1] For longitude, early ocean navigators had to rely on dead reckoning. This was inaccurate on long voyages out of sight of land and these voyages sometimes ended in tragedy. Finding an adequate solution to determining longitude was of paramount importance.
For details on many of the efforts towards determining the longitude, see History of longitude.
The main longitude prizes were:
In addition, the Board had the discretion to make awards to persons who were making significant contributions to the effort or to provide ongoing financial support to those who were working productively towards the solution. The Board could also make advances of up to £2,000 for experimental work deemed promising.[2]
As a result of the disputes and changes in the rules (legislated or otherwise) for the prize, no one was deemed qualified for any of the official prizes. None of the major prizes were ever awarded.
Many persons benefited from the awards offered by the Board. In total, over £100,000 was given in the form of encouragements and awards. Significant among these are:[3][4]
| Name | Amount | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| John Harrison | £14,315 | Received in several payments. £4,315 was awarded during his work on his chronometers from 1737 to 1764 with the remaining £10,000 provided in 1765. |
| Tobias Mayer | £3,000 | Contributions to the lunar distance method. His widow received the money due to Mayer's untimely death. |
| Thomas Mudge | £3,000 | Construction of chronometers with improvements to Harrison's designs. |
| John Arnold | £3,000 | Design and improvements to chronometers. |
| Thomas Earnshaw | £3,000 | Design and improvements to chronometers. |
| Charles Mason | £1,317 | Various contributions and improvements on Mayer’s lunar tables. |
| Jesse Ramsden | £615 | Design and construction of a superior dividing engine (£300) and publishing the design (£315). |
| Larcum Kendall | £500 | Construction of a copy of Harrison's H-4. |
| Leonhard Euler | £300 | Contributions to the lunar distance method in aid of Mayer. |
| Nathaniel Davies | £300 | Design of a Lunars telescope for Mayer |
Harrison also received £8,750 from Parliament in thanks for his work, bringing his total lifetime award to £23,065.
Rupert T. Gould's 1923 "The Marine Chronometer" (ISBN 0907462057) is the definitive reference work on the Marine Chronometer. It covers the chronometer's history from the earliest attempts to measure longitude while including detailed discussions and illustrations of the various mechanisms and their inventors.
Dava Sobel's 1996 bestseller Longitude (ISBN 0-14-025879-5) recounts Harrison's story. A film adaptation of Longitude was released by Granada Productions and A&E in 2000, starring Michael Gambon as Harrison and Jeremy Irons as Rupert Gould.