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Time Restored: The Harrison Timekeepers and R.T. Gould, the Man Who Knew (Almost) Everything
This is the story of Rupert T. Gould (1890-1948), the polymath and horologist. A remarkable man, Lt Cmdr Gould made important contributions in an extraordinary range of subject areas throughout his relatively short and dramatically troubled life. From antique clocks to scientific mysteries, from typewriters to the first systematic study of the Loch Ness Monster, Gould studied and published on them all. With the title The Stargazer, Gould was an early broadcaster on the BBC's Children's Hour when, with his encyclopaedic knowledge, he became known as The Man Who Knew Everything. Not surprisingly, he was also part of that elite group on BBC radio who formed The Brains Trust, giving on-the-spot answers to all manner of wide ranging and difficult questions. With his wide learning and photographic memory, Gould awed a national audience, becoming one of the era's radio celebrities.
During the 1920s Gould restored the complex and highly significant marine timekeepers constructed by John Harrison (1693-1776), and wrote the unsurpassed classic, The Marine Chronometer, its History and Development . Today he is virtually unknown, his horological contributions scarcely mentioned in Dava Sobel's bestseller Longitude. The TV version of Longitude, in which Jeremy Irons played Rupert Gould, did at least introduce Gould's name to a wider public.
Gould suffered terrible bouts of depression, resulting in a number of nervous breakdowns. These, coupled with his obsessive and pedantic nature, led to a scandalously-reported separation from his wife and cost him his family, his home, his job, and his closest friends.
In this first-ever biography of Rupert Gould, Jonathan Betts, the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Senior Horologist, has given us a compelling account of a talented but flawed individual. Using hitherto unknown personal journals, the family's extensive collection of photographs, and the polymath's surviving records and notes, Betts tells the story of how Gould's early life, his naval career, and his celebrity status came together as this talented Englishman restored part of Britain's--and the world's--most important technical John Harrison's marine timekeepers.
During the 1920s Gould restored the complex and highly significant marine timekeepers constructed by John Harrison (1693-1776), and wrote the unsurpassed classic, The Marine Chronometer, its History and Development . Today he is virtually unknown, his horological contributions scarcely mentioned in Dava Sobel's bestseller Longitude. The TV version of Longitude, in which Jeremy Irons played Rupert Gould, did at least introduce Gould's name to a wider public.
Gould suffered terrible bouts of depression, resulting in a number of nervous breakdowns. These, coupled with his obsessive and pedantic nature, led to a scandalously-reported separation from his wife and cost him his family, his home, his job, and his closest friends.
In this first-ever biography of Rupert Gould, Jonathan Betts, the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Senior Horologist, has given us a compelling account of a talented but flawed individual. Using hitherto unknown personal journals, the family's extensive collection of photographs, and the polymath's surviving records and notes, Betts tells the story of how Gould's early life, his naval career, and his celebrity status came together as this talented Englishman restored part of Britain's--and the world's--most important technical John Harrison's marine timekeepers.
- GenresHistory
484 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2006
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26 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Betts
16 books2 followersJonathan Betts MBE is Senior Specialist in horology at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, a horological scholar and author, and an expert on the first marine timekeepers created by John Harrison in the middle of the 18th century. From a family of retail watchmakers and jewellers, he took the British Horological Institute finals in technical horology in 1975 he was awarded the Tremayne National Prize for Practical Watchmaking. For the following five years, he practised as a self-employed horology conservator. In 1980 he was appointed Senior Horology Conservator at the National Maritime Museum and in 1989 was presented the museum's Callender Award for his contribution to horological conservation. He was appointed Curator of Horology in 1990 and became Senior Specialist in 2001. He is the biographer of Rupert Gould, the restorer of the Harrison timekeepers. The biography was published in 2006 by Oxford University Press under the title Time Restored: The Harrison Timekeepers and RT Gould, the Man Who Knew Everything. In 2002 he was awarded the Clockmakers' Company's Harrison Gold Medal and the British Horological Institute's Barett Medal in 2008, and is a Huntington Fellow at the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, of the British Horological Institute, and of the International Institute of Conservation.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 11, 2022
I came across this marvelous book while checking information regarding Harrison, his marine chronometers and the man that restored them . Jonathan Betts became the official biographer of Rudolph T. Gould, the genius behind the titanic and overwhelming task of setting the Harrison Timekeepers in shape and good health. Betts wrote a beautiful book, his narrative is accurate and clear.
November 13, 2016
A fine, if excessively dry, biography.
Betts narrates the life story of Rupert Gould, who is probably best remembered for a pair of books he wrote in the late 1920s and early 1930s on scientific mysteries, as well as early championing for the existence of the Loch ness Monster, but also did yeoman work in a number of other historical fields and restored several chronometers that were instrumental--pun unintended but apposite--in defining longitude.
The book suffers from some of the usual biographical conventions--a huge helping of family history at the beginning that introduces a bunch of characters who play very little (or no) role later in the book. A perspective that rates the importance of every event on the amount of material there is to document it: so, an unusual sex life is only hinted at, the chronometers take up lots of chapters.
To these usual troubles Betts adds his own idiosyncraccies: he toggles back and forth between thematic and chronological structure. Chapters are broken into tiny sections, so there is never any narrative thrust. Indeed, it reads almost like biography-as-technical-manual.
But! If you are interested in Gould; if you want to learn about the history of British marine chronometers in detail; if you want to know what Gould was up to at any given time period. The book does the job. Betts does not shy away from Gould's ignoble traits--his elitism, condescension, and mis-treatment of his wife. He also attempts to deal with what seem to be real, and hard, mental health problems suffered by Gould.
Only for those with a particular interest in Gould. It's a reference book, not pleasure reading.
Betts narrates the life story of Rupert Gould, who is probably best remembered for a pair of books he wrote in the late 1920s and early 1930s on scientific mysteries, as well as early championing for the existence of the Loch ness Monster, but also did yeoman work in a number of other historical fields and restored several chronometers that were instrumental--pun unintended but apposite--in defining longitude.
The book suffers from some of the usual biographical conventions--a huge helping of family history at the beginning that introduces a bunch of characters who play very little (or no) role later in the book. A perspective that rates the importance of every event on the amount of material there is to document it: so, an unusual sex life is only hinted at, the chronometers take up lots of chapters.
To these usual troubles Betts adds his own idiosyncraccies: he toggles back and forth between thematic and chronological structure. Chapters are broken into tiny sections, so there is never any narrative thrust. Indeed, it reads almost like biography-as-technical-manual.
But! If you are interested in Gould; if you want to learn about the history of British marine chronometers in detail; if you want to know what Gould was up to at any given time period. The book does the job. Betts does not shy away from Gould's ignoble traits--his elitism, condescension, and mis-treatment of his wife. He also attempts to deal with what seem to be real, and hard, mental health problems suffered by Gould.
Only for those with a particular interest in Gould. It's a reference book, not pleasure reading.
December 24, 2016
Brilliant and moving. A flawed but tenancious genius indeed.
August 10, 2011
This excellent biography of the restorer of the first experimental Marine chronometers follows it's subject through the interesting parts of his life. Staring with a brief naval career, an ugly divorce ( his wife left for another woman but he got stiffed with the legal and alimony bills), through the intense restoration work and on to radio celebrity status. An intriguing life from the last century of a fragile genius who first restored the important Harrison "longitude" clocks.
Want to read
November 17, 2008Aha, there is a biography! As if I'll ever get around to reading it, but one can dream. Maybe I'll just watch the miniseries starring Jeremy Irons.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews