Synopsis
In this title the author sets the stage by recounting the difficulties early navigators had in determining their exact longitude. After the loss of many ships and human lives, Parliament in 1714 offered a rich prize for a practical way to measure longitude at sea. John Harrison, an apparently self-taught English clockmaker undertook the task. Over a period of 40 years, he developed four increasingly precise chronometers capable of holding accurate time over a long sea voyage. Comparing the chronometer's time to the local sun time, a navigator could quickly measure the longitude with high precision. With the support of King George III, the clockmaker eventually prevailed and was awarded the prize.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1996-10-01 | | Edition Description: | Reprint |
| Size | | Height: | 7.8 in | | Width: | 4.5 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 4.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
During the great age of exploration, the "longitude problem" was the gravest of scientific challenges. Without the ability to determine longitude, sailors and their ships were lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. In 1714, desperate for a solution, England's Parliament offered 20,000 pounds (the equivalent of millions of dollars today) to anyone who could solve the problem. With all the skill and storytelling ability of a great novelist, Dava Sobel captures the dramatic story at the heart of this epic scientific quest.
Industry Reviews
"The marine chronometer is a glorious and fascinating object, but it is not a simple one, and its explanation calls for a writer as skilled with words as the watchmakers were with their tools: happily just such a writer has been found in Dava Sobel."
Publisher's catalogue - Patrick O'Brian
"An amazing and fascinating story, a book full of gems for anyone interested in history, geography, astronomy, navigation, clockmaking, and--not the least--plain old human ambition and greed....As much a tale of intrigue as it is of science."
Chopra
If you've grown up at a time when orbiting satellites were taken for granted, you'd probably not find reading a book about longitude an enticing prospect. But Sobel, an award-winning former science reporter for the New York Times who writes frequently for Audubon, Discover, LIFE, and Omni magazines, has transformed what could have been a dry subject into an interesting tale of scientific discovery. It is difficult to realize that a problem that can now be solved with a couple of cheap watches and a few simple calculations at one time appeared insurmountable. In 1714, the British Parliament offered a king's ransom of œ20 million ($12 million in today's currency) to anyone who could solve the problem of how to measure longitude at sea. Sobel recounts clockmaker John Harrison's lifelong struggle to win this prize by developing a timepiece impervious to the pitch and roll of the sea. His clock, known today as the chronometer, was rejected by the Longitude Board, which favored a celestial solution. Despite some awkward writing, this brief, if at times sketchy, book is recommended for popular science collections. James Olson, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Library Journal (09/15/1995)
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