Accuracy of the pendular mechanism

In 1580-e G. Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) discovered, enhancing the isochronism of pendulum oscillations. A year before his death, he drew up a plan to use a pendulum to regulate clocks, and only in 1649 by his son Vincenzo and the mechanic at the name Balestri did finally watch Galileo. Subsequently, the perfect design of such a clock was developed by Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens in the late 1650's, so the pendulum has proven itself reliable and accurate speed controller, and the daily error of standard hours has decreased from several minutes to ten seconds.
Another view of the regulator of the watch was created in 1658 when Robert hook invented the spring balance wheel or hair-spring. This thin coil spring was attached to the so-called balancer. Spring turns twisted and untwisted depending on the direction of motion of the balancer. This movement is allowed to operate a speed controller. The main advantage of the balance weight in comparison with the pendulum was the fact that his work was influenced much less by moving the watch. So it became possible to manufacture more smaller and more accurate pocket watches.
At the beginning of the XVIII century, new geographical discoveries and expansion of world trade resulted in a sharp increase in the number of long voyages. For successful sailing sailors needed an accurate method of determining the location of the own ship. The hardest part was to define a longitude - number of degrees East or West of the Greenwich Meridian. It needed an accurate timepiece showing the time in Greenwich mean time (England). But pitching courts stopped the pendulum and the clock with balance escapement was inaccurate in the extreme temperatures that adversely affected the work of the delicate hair springs.