by Dava Sobel
from Isis
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Editorial ReviewAnyone alive in the 18th century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day - and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. The quest for a solution had occupied scientists, and their patrons for the better part of two centuries when, in 1714, England's Parliament upped the ante by offering a king's ransom to anyone whose method or device proved successful. The scientific establishment throughout Europe had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution - a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had been able to do on land. This work tells the story of this epic scientific quest, and of Harrison's 40-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. It also provides a brief history of astronomy, navigation and clockmaking. The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, John "Longitude" Harrison, who solved the problem that Newton and Galileo had failed to conquer, yet claimed only half the promised rich reward.
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Customer Reviews:
- Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
- It is written in plain english, without complicate words and ideas
With this book you can get very entertained. It is written in plain english, without complicate words and ideas; it explains the relation between time keeping and navigation problems in a very clear way: In the future I would like to read a Sobel's book about atomic clocks!
I recommend this book, not only for people interested on science and history but also for those that are studying english as a second language.
- A short novel on longitude that's well worth your time
Who knew a short novel about "longitude" and a humble clockmaker's invention that perfected nautical navigation could be so engrossing? Author Dava Sobel weaves a spellbinding account of John Harrison, and how his new invention called a "chronometer," was the topic contender for the "X Prize" of its day -- discovering a reliable means of computing a ship's longitude at sea. Politics, conflicts of personality, ego, and other dramatic elements make this book not only an educational read, but also a fun (and... more info
- Longitude - Great for science-minded kids over 10
I bought this for my visiting grandson. We had a fine time reading it together and discussing what a great invention longitude was, how many sailors' lives it saved, and the way the inventor had to fight to get the prize offered by the government for finding a way for sailors to know their exact location. I finally know why Greenwich is the "center" of time measurement. Easy to understand and yet very comprehensive on this fundamental subject.
- Longitude is terrific
This book is a well-written story about how scientists and engineers figured out how to navigate the globe. It is a story that was well known in its day and forgotten within 50 years.
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