| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-11-01 | | Edition Description: | Illustrated |
| Size | | Length: | 216 pages | | Height: | 10.8 in | | Width: | 9.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 40.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
The Illustrated Longitude recounts in words and images the epic quest to solve the thorniest scientific problem of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Throughout the great age of exploration, sailors attempted to navigate the oceans without any means of measuring their longitude: All too often, voyages ended in total disaster when both crew and cargo were captured or lost upon the rocks of an unexpected landfall. Thousands of lives and the fortunes of seafaring nations hung on a resolution. To encourage a solution, governments established major prizes for anyone whose method or device proved successful. The largest reward of (pound)20,000 - truly a king's ransom - was offered by the British Parliament in 1714. The scientific establishment - from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton - had been certain that a celestial answer would be found and invested untold effort in this pursuit. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, imagined and built the unimaginable: a clock that solved the problem by keeping precise time at sea, called today the chronometer. His trials and tribulations to win the prize throughout a forty-year obsession are the culmination of this remarkable story.
Industry Reviews
Sobel's 1995 volume attracted a large audience, an unusual feat for a historical science title. Her text describes John Harrison's development of the chronometer, an instrument that measured time exactly while at sea and allowed mariners to calculate longitude for the first time and accurately navigate. This handsome edition is profusely illustrated with numerous annotated photos and paintings of the players and the machinery that led to the chronometer's creation.
Fox
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
