Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

Dava Sobel

Jul 2010 · Bloomsbury Publishing USA

About this ebook

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."

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.

Ratings and reviews

...about a fascinating story and crucial historical topic I have ever read. I recommend reading the Wikipedia entries on Harrison and longitude over touching this book. The author is an historian and well... it is as boring as you remember history lectures being! Terribly dry. This is coming from a geography professor, not a complete ignoramus.

Very good summary on an otherwise little known subject of historical events. A special message on innovation is emphasized in that accepted technologies are usually composites of multiple inventors' creations. Unfortunately John Harrison learned this the hard way in his dealings with the antagonistic Board of Longitude.

This is by far the most boring book I have ever read in my whole life!

About the author

Dana Sobel is the bestselling author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, The Planets, co-author of The Illustrated Longitude, and editor of Letters to Father. She lives in East Hampton, New York.