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 heritage: John Harrison's marine timekeepers.
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