zillosps08's Full Review: Dava Sobel - Longitude: The True Story of a Lone G...
This book was probably the most interesting non-fiction book that I have read recently, though not always in a good way. There were definitely a lot of facts stated throughout the book which made it interesting, however did overwhelm me and made me not remember them all. It turns out that to know ones longitude, one must also know the precise time of day. In the early 1700's, this was possible on land, but it was next to impossible to have a clock work precisely while out at sea. Safe travel at sea depends on the ability to determine accurately latitude and longitude. Longitude was the more difficult thing to figure out, and requires a very accurate time measurement. This need was a major motivation for the development of accurate time-keeping devices or clocks. This book was about the chase of many scientists, clock makers, and astronomers who attempted to find an accurate way to determine longitude. The first person who could discover the the solution would be awarded a huge monetary prize by the English government. It was an obscure Scottish clockmaker, John Harrison, who persevered for 40 yrs, who created the first accurate navigational chronometer, and who ultimately claimed the prize. This books takes us back to a time when it was difficult (to the point of impossible) for a sailor to know his position at sea, or for anyone to accurately know the time of day while at sea. Many shipwrecks resulted from a lack of good navigational information. It also shows how one man can overcome the most difficult of odds by shear perseverance. If you enjoy reading books about early timepieces and the journeys of ships at sea, and how it came to be that an accurate longitude was determined, then this is your book!
Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day-and had been for ...More at HotBookSale
Sobel presents the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of John Harrison s 40-year obsession with building the perfect timekeeper, kno...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
On its 10th anniversary, a gift edition of this classic book, with a forward by one of history s greatest explorers, and eight pages of color illustra...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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