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

Dava Sobel
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (482 customer reviews)


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LONGITUDE LONGITUDE 4.1 out of 5 stars (482)
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Book Description

October 1, 1996
During the great ages of exploration, "the longitude problem" was the gravest of all scientific challenges. Lacking the ability to determine their longitude, sailors were literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Ships ran aground on rocky shores; those traveling well-known routes were easy prey to pirates.

In 1714, England's Parliament offered a huge reward to anyone whose method of measuring longitude could be proven successful. The scientific establishment--from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton--had mapped the heavens in its certainty of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had been able to do on land. And the race was on....


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Dava Sobel's Longitude tells the story of how 18th-century scientist and clockmaker William Harrison solved one of the most perplexing problems of history--determining east-west location at sea. This lush, colorfully illustrated edition adds lots of pictures to the story, giving readers a more satisfying sense of the times, the players, and the puzzle. This was no obscure, curious difficulty--without longitude, ships often found themselves so far off course that sailors would starve or die of scurvy before they could reach port. When a nationally-sponsored contest offered a hefty cash prize to the person who could develop a method to accurately determine longitude, the race was on. In the end, the battle of accuracy--and wills--fought between Harrison and arch-rival Maskelyne was ruthless and dramatic, worthy of a Hollywood feature film. Longitude's story is surprising and fascinating, offering a window into the past, before Global Positioning Satellites made it look easy. --Therese Littleton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

This look at the scientific quest to find a way for ships at sea to determine their longitude was a PW bestseller for eight weeks.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books (October 1, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140258795
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140258790
  • Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (482 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #793,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

This book is very interesting and well written. James A. Bredar  |  113 reviewers made a similar statement
I recommend this to anyone with an interest in history. Kelvin R. Lawrence  |  55 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
206 of 214 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Simple guy solves enormous problem October 13, 2002
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you can't get Newton and Galileo to solve your scientific problems, who do you turn to? Well the English government turned to everyone, hoping that some budding scientist could figure out the problem of calculating Longitude at sea. They even offered a huge reward. Why was it important? Without precise longitude, there was no way to steer a ship with any precision. Thus English ships were being wrecked and precious cargo wasn't making its scheduled delivery.

The scientists worked and worked on the problem. Many men including Edmund Halley thought that by mapping the stars, one could use the night sky as a map at sea. Although he knew little about science, a simple clockmaker named John Harrison thought that well-built clock with a dual face would solve the problem. You get to guess which person was right.

Longitude is both a vibrant story of the pains of solving an important problem, and a biography of the man who solved it. I don't tend to read the subject of science all that much, because I find it dry, but not so with this book. Author Dava Sobel lends an understanding of the human element in science. That Harrison has to fight snobbery first and later jealousy demonstrates how ego and self-importance can get in the way of the most important problems facing human beings. Not only will you learn how average people can solve enormous tasks, but you'll nod as the familiar self-promoters try to take the credit.

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149 of 154 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read that improves on the original October 11, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Having bought and read "Longitude", the only lightly illustrated original hardback version, I wanted to know more about how the actual clocks worked, and I wanted to see them, without making a trans-Atlantic pilgrimage to Greenwich.

Hence, when I saw an illustrated version of "Longitude", I had to buy it. This book contains the original text, with no additions, except for the illustrations. The photographs are beautifully done, as is the printing.

My only hesitation in not awarding the book five stars is that I was hoping for one of two things; either an illustrated version of the original, with a couple of pictures of each chronometer, at a reasonable price, or a more detailed illustrated version, with more information on how the chronometers actually work. What we ended up with is a compromise. Beautiful pictures of the chronometers, but little extra detail of Harrison's marvelous inventions.

Still, an improvement on the original, which is an excellent book, one I have read several times. Highly recommended.

By the way, when I purchased this book, I donated my original version to the library.

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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Great If You Can't See Harrison's Clocks in Person. April 1, 2004
Format:Paperback
So as not to repeat myself and try the patience of those customers who have already read "Longitude", I will confine my comments to the additional material in the illustrated version. If you haven't read "Longitude", it's a great little book, and I refer you to reviews by myself and others on that book's page.

"The Illustrated Longitude" contains the entire original text of Dava Sobel's book, "Longitude", along with 178 illustrations provided by William J. H. Andrewes. Mr. Andrewes hosted the Longitude Symposium that inspired Dava Sobel's book and has himself published the annotated proceedings of the Symposium in his book entitled "The Quest for Longitude". The illustrations in this book consist of portraits of people and photographs of documents and instruments which are referenced in the text. The documents include maps, journals, pages of books, and official decrees. Nearly every major player in the Longitude drama is represented with at least one portrait. Most fascinating are the photographs of the time pieces, themselves. I found the illustrations to be only mildly interesting until I got to the discussion of John Harrison's longitude clocks. At this point, I was astonished to see how grand and beautiful H-1 was...and still is, and how small and elegant H-4 is in contrast. I found it difficult to picture Harrison's clocks while reading Dava Sobel's book, and the ability to see them in this illustrated version has left me even more impressed with Mr. Harrison's work. All of Harrison's clocks are represented with large color photographs, and many of the later copies of his works by Larcum Kendall, Thomas Mudge, John Arnold, and Thomas Earnshaw are also pictured. I wish there were more illustrations addressing the workings of Harrison's clocks, but that's probably a subject for another book. I recommend "The Illustrated Longitude" to fans of John Harrison's work and early chronometers who will not have the opportunity to see these incredible instruments in person.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended to Nerds!! ;-)
The original tech war. Men who think and men who rant ,trying to deceive. But there was a man who could and did . Fighting to his death, then his son continues on.
Published 4 days ago by Verlwb
5.0 out of 5 stars "LONGITUDE", by Dava Sobel: A Most Excellent Read
An excellent account of how a navigator's exact longitude was finalized.It is a most worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in where they are in the world, and how that was... Read more
Published 12 days ago by geof james
5.0 out of 5 stars This was a Great experience. Would definitely do it again....
This was a Great experience. Would definitely do it again. Everything was described accurately. Item was here in great time.
Published 15 days ago by John Choate
5.0 out of 5 stars Navigational problem resolved
One day I stumbled onto a PBS special on Longitude, unfortunately, I viewed the last portion. But it drew my interest on the subject of how the long sought problem of longitude was... Read more
Published 16 days ago by Roberto Duran
4.0 out of 5 stars Good quick read, great subject
I enjoy reading histories of scientific advancements - especially in the 18th century age of exploration. Read more
Published 17 days ago by MomShops
5.0 out of 5 stars History made real
A very in depth history of the battle Harrison had to make to win the prize for the solution to longitude. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Rodz
4.0 out of 5 stars A truly great story that needs to be told
This tale confirmed that life is not always good to those who think up important ideas. Ms Sobel's account of the intrigue and infighting over Harrison's clocks that contributed so... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael J Price
5.0 out of 5 stars A short but great story about global navigation
An excellent read on the development of the chronometer, and how it opened up the world to exploration on the oceans
Published 1 month ago by J. Foley
4.0 out of 5 stars Never enough history!
I bought this book so that I could share it with my family and learn more about the things we saw at Greenwich.
Published 1 month ago by Linda M Gable
4.0 out of 5 stars How time ruled the waves
In this day-and-age we take global positioning for granted - I even have a GPS system on my smartphone. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Suncoast
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