National Maritime Museum (Great Britain)

Rebekah Higgitt

Richard Dunn

Official publication of the National Maritime Museum's exhibition "Ships, Clocks and Stars: The Quest for Longitude". 300 years ago, amidst growing frustration from the naval community and pressure from the increasing importance of international trade, the British government passed the 1714 Longitude Act. It was an attempt to solve one of the most pressing problems of the age: how to determine a ship's longitude (east-west position) at sea. With life-changing rewards on offer, the challenge captured the imaginations and talents of astronomers, skilled craftsmen, politicians, seamen and satirists. This beautifully illustrated book is a detailed account of these stories, and how the longitude problem was solved. Highlights of the book include: * Foreword by the fifteenth Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees. * Specially commissioned photographs of the National Maritime Museum's collection. * A new description of the collaborations and conflicts in a tale of technical creativity, scientific innovation and hard commercialism. From the same publisher as Dava Sobel's Longitude, Finding Longitude tells a new story of one of the great achievements of the Georgian age, and how it changed our understanding of the world.

Finding Longitude

Examines Isaac Newton's changing legacy during the nineteenth century. This book focuses on 1820-70, a period that saw the creation of the specialized and secularized role of the 'scientist'. It shows how debates about Newton's character stimulated historical scholarship and led to the development of a new expertise in the history of science.

Newtonian Biography and the Making of Nineteenth-Century History of Science

Recreating Newton

A history of one of the greatest nautical discoveries of all time Three hundred years ago, amidst growing frustration from the naval community and pressure linked with the increasing importance of international trade, the British government passed the 1714 Longitude Act. It was an attempt to solve one of the most pressing problems of the age: how to determine a ship's longitude (east-west position) at sea. With life-changing rewards on offer, the challenge captured the imaginations and talents of astronomers, scientists, skilled craftsmen, politicians, seamen, and satirists. Ships, Clocks, and Stars is an illustrated, lively chronicle of the heated competition to find a solution to the longitude problem. Featuring more than 150 photographs specially commissioned from Britain's National Maritime Museum, it is a tale of eighteenth-century invention and competition, commerce and conflict. It illuminates the various solutions that were proposed and tested, explores the invention that revolutionized human history, and brings this age of excitement and enlightenment to life.

The Quest for Longitude

Ships, Clocks, and Stars

Peter Jones

This book explores the development of navigation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It examines the role of men of science, seamen and practitioners across Europe, and the realities of navigational practice, showing that old and new methods were complementary not exclusive, their use dependent on many competing factors.

Rebekah Higgitt

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