Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His TimeDuring the great ages of exploration "the longitude problem" was the greatest of 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 welt-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. |
Contents
Imaginary Lines | 1 |
The Sea Before Time | 11 |
Adrift in a Clockwork Universe | 21 |
Copyright | |
14 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest ... Dava Sobel Limited preview - 2010 |
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the ..., Volumes 0-2 Dava Sobel Limited preview - 1995 |
Common terms and phrases
Admiralty Anson Arnold astronomer royal balance spring Berthoud Board of Longitude Bradley brass Captain Cassini Centurion century chronometer clock of heaven clockmaker clockwork commissioners Cook Curator degrees of longitude determine longitude Earnshaw Earth eclipses Edmond Halley Equator Ferdinand Berthoud finding longitude Flamsteed Galileo George gitude Gould Graham Greenwich gridiron horologist Huygens instrument island Jefferys John Harrison Jupiter keep Kendall King later latitude London longi Longitude Act longitude at sea longitude prize longitude problem lunar distance method machine marine timekeepers Maskelyne's Mayer miles minutes moon moon's motion Mudge Museum navigation never Nevil Maskelyne Newton night observations ocean Paris Paris Observatory pendulum pocket watch port positions precision predicted prime meridian rison Royal Navy Royal Observatory Royal Society sailed sailors ship ship's stars tables temperature tested Thacker Thomas Mudge timekeeper timepiece tion took trial tude voyage watchmaker West Indies wheels William wrote