The clockmaker and the ocean.
John Harrison, marine timekeepers and a question of longitude.
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The Workshop
Gears, measuring tools, cameras and precision mechanisms. A closer look at the craftsmanship behind a good idea.
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10 storiesStories from this world.
Making Room for a Chair
Michael Thonet's No. 14 could travel as separate wooden curves and become a chair near its buyer. Getting there meant changing the wood, the tools and the people doing the work.
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A Place for the Point
The sharp end had work to do. Walter Hunt’s 1849 dress pin gave it somewhere to go afterwards, using the same wire to pierce, spring and fasten.
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The Same Recipe
Nicolas-Jacques Conté made pencils from graphite and clay. His successor faced another problem: keeping their quality when the raw material changed.
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Starting Without a Helper
Chain gearing and pneumatic tyres had brought cycling within reach of new riders. Frances Willard, learning at fifty-three, found that a safety bicycle still left something to master.
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The Machine Was Done Again
Charles Weller tried to use Sholes's experimental typewriter for paid work. Between jammed letters and handwritten transcripts came a succession of promises that the machine was finally ready.
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A Quarter in Advance
Breguet’s one-hand pocket watch simplified the machinery and changed how customers paid for it. A large dial, a repairable movement and a quarter of the price in advance formed the bargain.
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One Turn Too Many
Willgodt Odhner promised reliable arithmetic in a small machine. His instructions reveal the turns, shifts and corrections that still belonged to the person holding the crank.
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A Name Below the Picture
A silk portrait of Joseph-Marie Jacquard was made to impress Paris. The work passed from painter to technical designer to weaver, but the names beneath the image did not tell the whole story.
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Forty Characters of Clockwork
In the 1770s, Jaquet-Droz’s mechanical boy could write a newly chosen message of up to forty characters. His makers were selling Swiss watchmaking, while giving a remarkably familiar vision of a writing assistant its human form.
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