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

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

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
List Price: $12.95
Our Price: $3.98
You Save: $8.97 (69%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.70 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Dava Sobel
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-30
ISBN: 0007790163
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Walker & Company

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

Book Review: Informative but longwinded
Summary: 3 Stars

The story of tracking longitude and the development of an accurate time piece tells about a time of boats and paper maps. It if hard for some to imagine the world before GPS and iphone when the concept of longitude was difficult to determine. The novel, Longitude, gives the various attempts are creating a device or method to determine longitude while at sea.

I think the story could have been told in a more engaging manner. There are many factors besides the English interest in longitude at sea that drove the search. On the other hand his story telling of history is extremely factual and full of details.

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

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.
?

The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, John "Longitude" Harrison, who solved the problem that Newton and Galileo had failed to conquer, yet claimed only half the promised rich reward.

Scientists Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Thirteen Meditations on the Theme of Time
One Hundred Years of Solitude ImageOne Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2006-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.33
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare ImageThe Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
by G. K. Chesterton
Filiquarian; Published: 2007-11-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (Penguin Classics) ImageRelativity: The Special and the General Theory (Penguin Classics)
by Albert Einstein
Penguin Classics; Published: 2006-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.21
Price in other shops: $10.00
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time ImageLongitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
by Dava Sobel
Walker & Company; Published: 2007-10-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: $12.95
Invitation to a Beheading ImageInvitation to a Beheading
by Vladimir Nabokov
Vintage; Published: 1989-09-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.38
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Clocks (Hercule Poirot) ImageThe Clocks (Hercule Poirot)
by Agatha Christie
Berkley; Published: 2000-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.11
Price in other shops: $6.99
The First Three Minutes: A Modern View Of The Origin Of The Universe ImageThe First Three Minutes: A Modern View Of The Origin Of The Universe
by Steven Weinberg
Basic Books; Published: 1993-08-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.84
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Time Traveler's Wife ImageThe Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
Mariner Books; Published: 2004-05-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.70
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Lost Road and Other Writings (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 5) ImageThe Lost Road and Other Writings (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 5)
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien
Del Rey; Published: 1996-09-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: $7.99
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe ImageThe Restaurant at the End of the Universe
by Douglas Adams
Del Rey; Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $12.95
Similar Books and other products
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage ImageEndurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
by Alfred Lansing
Basic Books; Published: 1999-03-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology ImageThe Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
by Simon Winchester
Harper Perennial; Published: 2002-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.29
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Making of the Atomic Bomb ImageThe Making of the Atomic Bomb
by Richard Rhodes
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1995-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.45
Price in other shops: $20.00
The Illustrated Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time ImageThe Illustrated Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
by Dava Sobel, William J. H. Andrewes, William J.H. Andrewes
Walker & Company; Published: 2003-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: $22.95
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) ImageThe Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.)
by Simon Winchester
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $13.95
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex ImageIn the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.16
Price in other shops: $15.00
Longitude ImageLongitude
A&E; Release date: 2000-08-29; DVD
Best price: $9.10
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Planets ImageThe Planets
by Dava Sobel
Viking Adult; Published: 2007-07-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World ImageThe Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World
by Amir D. Aczel
Harvest Books; Published: 2002-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $14.00
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love ImageGalileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love
by Dava Sobel
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: $16.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories