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One of the greatest advances in timekeeping was obtained by cancelling out the effect of temperature on the pendulum length of a clock.

When a clock is warmed the expansion of the metal pendulum makes the clock run slow. Cooler temperatures contract the pendulum and the clock runs fast .John Harrison, a famous 18th century watchmaker, designed a 'Grid Iron' pendulum to counteract the effects of expansion by maintaining the same length regardless of temperature.

The alloy metal known as 'Invar' was developed for the balance wheel in mechanical chronometers. This alloy neither expanded nor contracted with temperature making clocks and watches so stable that the determination of a ship's longitude became very reliable.

These clocks can be seen in the National Maritime Museum in Gereenwich, London.They are known as H1 to H5 after Harrison and were famously described in the best selling book 'Longitude' by Dava Sobell.

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