One of his sailors tried to call attention to the upcoming catastrophe...but was immediately hanged. Detailed descriptions of the clocks and their engineering advancements are absent. It covers the trials and tribulations of Harrison and the rivalry between the astronomers and horologists in the race for the longitude prize. It would do well to be required reading in our schools actually as there's so much to be gained in perspective. UK Paperback Edition/First Printing. To win the full prize, the method or device had to be accurate to within one-half degree on a trip from England to the West Indies. Interesting review of the tale toward discovering a correct way to measure longitude for a ship at sea. I have favorable recollections of the book, and I found it to be in interesting story. They and many others vied for the monetary prize offered by the British government. Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. The author lays out the historical background and competing interests so that the reader can fully appreciate the challenges faced by John Harrison and his son William. Even before the publication of Longitude twenty-five years ago, I learned about a group of women who worked at the Harvard College Observatory in the nineteenth century, analyzing images of the stars to fantastic effect.. An amazing man, John Harrison, worked tirelessly to conquer the problem. This one is all about the late 18th century watch maker, John Harrison, who builds a series of highly accurate watches in an attempt to win a prize for a device to be able to establish longitude at sea. The analysis of Harrison's clocks is far more focused on the decorations of their faces than on his novel engineering. https://www.waterstones.com/book/longitude/dava-sobel/9780007214228 Unable to add item to List. Likewise, if you're expecting a a blow-by-blow account of his inventions and dealings with the Board of Longitude, you are also going to be disappointed. The dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of one man's forty-year obsession to find a solution to the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--"the longitude problem. On October 22, 1707 four English warships crashed into the rocks of the Scilly Isles southwest of England. But Dava Sobel goes beyond that obstacle, she turns the story of John Harrison and his first marine chronometer, into a race for glory and wealth. The cause of this catastrophe was the inability to determine longitude, a problem that beset mariners everywhere. Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of. fascinating account of the competition to solve where we are, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2014. The story encompasses astronomy, navigation and clockmaking. As far as popular science writing, or popular history of science writing (take your pick) goes, I've read better books. Dava Sobel is an accomplished writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. 0 Reviews. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Adjusted for inflation, this second watch is probably cheaper. Maybe Longitude suffered by comparison with my previous read, Amir Alexander's Infinitesimal, but this book felt very light and frothy. Longitude. An amazing book following the attempts to solve the longitudinal navigation problems. The focus then shifts to a biography of John Harrison, the 18th century clockmaker who attempted to solve this problem based on timekeeping. And yet time refuses to be bottled up like a genie stuffed in a lamp. I listened to a quarter of it or so on audio while running errands and walking around the hospital in a bit of a daze as my latest little boy was born, so I know I missed some details in the beginning. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Stellar nonfiction, exceptionally well-written. Consequently it did not deal much with the details either of the astronomical or mechanical approaches to solving the problem of finding longitude on the high seas. I remember visiting Royal Museums Greenwich in London with my children several years ago. 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 story of John (Longitude) Harrison disproves this. I take GPS for granted. An engaging overview of the solution(s) to the longitude problem - recommended, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2018. Has anyone else read it? There are no illustrations in a book that screams. To see what your friends thought of this book, Just finished it and really enjoyed it. It’s worth a read but will end up at our local charity shop. 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