Watches are everywhere. Whether it's to wake up in the morning, to get to a meeting on time, or to say how much time you still have until a certain point; Watches are used every day by everyone in modern society. We rarely stop to think about the real meaning of a watch. For the most part, many consider the watch simply as a tool for telling the time and don't think twice about it. However, the development of the watch has had ripple effects throughout recent history and has led to numerous technological advances. Before the early 18th century, ocean voyages were extremely dangerous. While their latitudinal position (North/South Position) could be determined by measuring the angle of the sun at its highest point or, if it is in the Northern Hemisphere, by measuring the angle of the northern stars (Calculation). However, there was no accurate way to determine your longitudinal (east/west) position and you had to do it with dead reckoning instead. This sometimes led to disasters where navigators mistakenly tracked their positions and led the ship to their doom. This was the case at the Scilly naval disaster of 1707, where a British fleet of twenty-one ships led by Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell ran aground. The fleet, returning to England, believed they were sailing safely off the coast of Ouessant; a small island off the coast of north-west France. However, due to storms, the fleet was actually approaching the coast of Scilly, an archipelago at the southwestern tip of Britain. The fleet struck rocks resulting in the sinking of four ships and the loss of 1,400-2,000 men, including Admiral Shovell (History). Partially as a result of this disaster, in 1714 the British Parliament passed the Longitude Act of 1714 which created the Board of Behold... half the document... figure it out, scientists hope to one day understand this unified theory. Such a theory would represent a major breakthrough and answer many unknown questions. Overall, although often overlooked, watches have played a vital role not only in technological advancement, but in shaping the culture of modern society. In the early 18th century, the invention of the precise marine chronometer dramatically increased the safety of foreign travel and helped England create one of the greatest empires ever known. With the creation of the atomic clock came the GPS system, which increased military effectiveness and helped shape MAD's nuclear policy. In the civil sector, GPS is constantly used to improve the safety and effectiveness of some jobs. In the future, atomic clocks could play a role in deep space travel and aid in the development of a general theory of everything.