Talk:John Whitehurst

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Nonsense

Starting on the assumption that the length of a second pendulum in the latitude of London was 39.2 inches, he deduced that the length of one oscillating forty-two times a minute is eighty inches, while that of one oscillating twice as many times is twenty inches. The difference between these two lengths would therefore be exactly five feet. He found, however, upon experiment that the actual difference was only 59.892 inches owing to the real length of the pendulum, oscillating once a second, being 39.125 inches. He obtained roughly, however, data from which the true lengths of pendulums, the spaces through which heavy bodies fall in a given time, and many other particulars relating to the force of gravitation and the true figure of the earth, could be deduced.

This paragraph doesn't make sense- and is impossible to translate. As it is unreferenced- I can't correct it- has it been copied out of contest from the DNB- or paraphrased wrongly.? --ClemRutter (talk) 23:46, 17 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This a problem of interpretation of how to read latitude and longitude. As we know London location at coordinates: 51°30′26″N 0°7′39″W this we must read degree, minutes and seconds, not degree, feet and inches. Please correct the article. I already translate in proper translation in Bahasa Indonesia. Sanko (talk) 21:30, 28 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I see no error (but I have PhD in physics). However it cloud be formatted clearer. The key sentence is in the end. Perhaps the paragraph should start: Whitehurst wanted to study the shape of the earth by measuring differences in gravitation. For this, he studied heavy pendulums in different locations. He measured the length of the pendulum, the frequency of its oscillation and the length of the path its head was moving. He compared these to theoretical values he calculated assuming the globe is spherical. (After this, you could add the original paragraph or leave it out, whatever...) Language edit welcome. (Actually, I could post this to simple English, is it simple enough ?) --Tappinen (talk) 06:22, 29 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Seems like a good idea, why not try doing that? Andrew Dalby 10:27, 29 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

A whole lot better--- but --- what is a second pendulum? One that has length that gives an oscllation of 1/3600th of an hour? One thats stroke is limited to 1/3600th a degree. If it is the one he set up before the third pendulum- which was the first? The word is ambiguous and in the context given cannot be any one of the three possibilities I have mentioned. --ClemRutter (talk) 13:44, 29 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That expression seems to come directly from "Dictionary of National Biography", and the 18th century sources of that dictionary are not available. I suggest removing the confusing sentences with unnecessarily detailed explanations.--Tappinen (talk) 08:24, 30 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"Big Ben"

I seem to recall reading that one of the Whitehurst family of clockmakers was one of three famous clockmakers to submit designs for a competition to design the clock for "Big Ben" he didn't win.

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