A brief history of innovation: In the beginning, there were lone inventors who changed the world. John Harrison was one of the most prominent – the clock-maker became famous and (eventually) rich in the 18th century by building a clock so accurate and so resilient in the face of changing temperatures and constant rocking that it could be taken on board a ship and used to calculate the ship's longitude. In doing so, Harrison pitted himself against the might of the Royal Observatory, which had been established in 1675 by King Charles II in order to solve the longitude problem with an astronomical method. The loner got there first.
以下是一部「創新簡史」：首先登場的是那些孤軍奮戰、並改變了世界的發明家，其中最傑出的一位是約翰•哈里森(John Harrison)。這位鐘錶匠在18世紀名聲大噪，並且（最終）變得非常富有，原因是他製造了一臺時鐘，其走時是如此精確，在氣溫變化和長期搖晃的情況下是如此不受干擾，以至於人們可把它裝配在輪船上，用以計算船所在的經度。哈里森也由此與有權有勢的英國皇家天文臺(Royal Observatory)展開了競爭。皇家天文臺是由查理二世(King Charles II)於1675年建立的，目的是用天文學方法解決經度問題。孤軍奮戰的發明家率先拿出了答案。