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Books : Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His TimeIn association with Amazon.comby: Dava Sobel  List Price: $12.95 Amazon.com's Price: $10.36 You Save: $2.59 (20%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 526.62 EAN: 9780802715296 ISBN: 0007790163 Label: Walker & Company Manufacturer: Walker & Company Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 208 Publication Date: October 30, 2007 Publisher: Walker & Company Release Date: October 30, 2007 Studio: Walker & Company Sales Rank: 19505 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: 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 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. Thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations hung on a resolution. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution—a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison’s forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world. Amazon.com Review: 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. Average Rating:
 Rating: - Surprisingly fantastic!My husband (a scientist) loves books on exploration and discovery. When he finished this book - surprisingly quickly - he said "you'll love this." Sure, I'll read anything once so I gave it a try. The author has such a knack with prose that this book basically read itself! Time flew when I picked it up and I was done in no time. What a fantastic surprise! When I finished it, I mailed it to my brother who read it & sent it to a friend; it;s that good.... Rating: - Very InterestingA short but well written book that sheds light on an almost forgotten man who changed the world. Interesting and fun to read, worth checking out. Rating: - Genuinely great story, but BEWARE of some inaccuracies in this book.John Harrison completes his first pendulum clock in 1713 before the age of 20. He made the gears for this out of wood which was radical for such a use, but as a carpenter, perhaps not to him---which is a mark of genius, I'd say; to reach beyond accepted norms in this manner. This he did after borrowing a book on math and the laws of motion; which he copied word for word, making his own copy. He incorporated different varieties of wood into his clock for strength and later invented a bi-metal pendulum ... Read More Rating: - The long and the short of LongitudeWhat do Galileo and John Harrison have in common? They both had run-ins with bureaucracies that impeded the acceptance of their breakthrough ideas. And they are both subjects of books by Dava Sobel. Longitude is second book by her that I have read, the other being Galileo's Daughter. As with the latter book, Sobel combines the science of the times with a lot of background on the politics and religion of the age. She weaves these together into a coherent story that is entertaining and informative. I had ... Read More Rating:  - Fascinating subject in the hands of SobelOne of the most pressing issues for early sailors was the problem of longitude. Because it was impossible to determine longitude, many ships and sailors died. Also, captains used the same routes as pirates or enemies of the state, which made it easy to lie in wait for your next victim. In 1714, English Parliament passed the Longitude Act which created an award for the first person to accurately determine longitude. Longitude, by Dava Sobel, explores the work of John Harrison, the man credited with accurately ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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