Dava Sobel

Neil Armstrong

Describes the forty-year effort of John Harrison to invent the chronometer, the first instrument able to keep accurate time for navigational purposes.

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

Longitude

E J Doble

A very good, short and informative book on the history of solving the "longitude" problem that dogged seafarers for centuries. With tales of perseverence, Hollywood-worthy ego-battles, and notable characters like Captain Cook and King George III in the fray, at 175 pages it neither dragged on nor omitted any key information. A well rounded book on scientific history.

Ivan Shiel

A perfect example of how to write a popular history book. A subject that sounds unpromising but is constantly fascinating. Every story is engrossing and surprising. Written in a style that is accessible to all. Brilliant.

Wynn Netherland

Today we don't consider longitude a problem. Unless you make your living on the sea, chances are it's just another number, half of the answer to *where am I?* after we drive off the beaten path.

This book is the fascinating account of the struggle to find a method for calculating longitude at sea and the bounty paid by the British government to anyone who could do so. With a blend of timekeeping nerdery, scientific theory, ocean exploration, and human conflict, it's an entertaining read.

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.

Lisa Miller

Who knew that longitude used to a complete mystery impossible to solve but absolutely needed, much like the cure for cancer is today? This book tells this story in under 200 pages. The first few chapters recounting the earlier science of Galileo and Newton et al was brisk and I felt like I was skipping over the information not really absorbing it. However by Chapter 7 which begins to tell John Harrison's part of the story I became fully engaged and really enjoyed this book.

Jeni Enjaian

I know that I would have enjoyed this book more if I didn't already know the storyline. As it was I still enjoyed the book and Ms. Sobel's fluid prose

The tenth anniversary edition of the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest: the search for the solution of how to calculate longitude and the unlikely triumph of an English genius. With a new foreword by astronaut Neil Armstrong.

The True Story of a Lone Genius who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

Sarah Jackson

The dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest: the search for the solution of how to calculate longitude and the unlikely triumph of an English genius. With a Foreword by Neil Armstrong.

I.m. ruzz

very interesting book if you like to geek out a bit about things like how we got to where we are. There isn’t a whirlwind story buried here, just interesting history and it reads as such.

Ayushman Gupta

Laura Mauler

D VA

Carter Rabasa

Jamie McHale

Andrew John Kinney

Coleman McCormick

Matthew Royal

Blake Hord

Drew Spartz

Jonas Lincoln

Clare B

Erin moore

Laura

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.

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

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