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Loading... Longitude (original 1995; edition 1996)by Dava Sobel
Work detailsLongitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel (1995)
 stevejwales | Apr 26, 2013 |  This is a great book. It's one of the excellent historical non-fiction books that is really well written and interesting, even if you're not normally interested in the subject. I can honestly say I have never once wondered about how longitude is determined, or why it matters. Until I read this book, it never occurred to me that longitude was not a historical constant like latitude. I had no idea there was this depth of history and tragedy in the story of determining longitude, and it was damned fascinating. This was well-written, engaging, and enlightening. In other words, awesome! (  ) mephistia | Apr 6, 2013 | What a great topic, and yet the prose and the storytelling was breathless in a bad way, and vapid, when it could have been so good. The story deserved better treatment. (  ) poingu | Mar 30, 2013 | A great story (of John Harrison and the first deck watch) by a gifted storyteller. Was an unlikely best-seller ( ) hcubic | Feb 8, 2013 | The story seems to be to short to fill one entire book. Thus Sobel seems to reitereate the same over and over again. I would have preferred a more balanced discussion of the different ideas to determine the longitude. In Science wrong ideas usually are interesting too. chworm | Sep 14, 2012 | no reviews | add a review Has the adaptation
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(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:18:35 -0400)
During the great age of exploration, the "longitude problem" was the gravest of scientific challenges. Without the ability to determine longitude, sailors and their ships were lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. In 1714, desperate for a solution, England's Parliament offered 20,000 pounds (the equivalent of millions of dollars today) to anyone who could solve the problem. With all the skill and storytelling ability of a great novelist, Dava Sobel captures the dramatic story at the heart of this epic scientific quest.… (more)
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Wikipedia in English (36)
An interesting popular science/history book, tied together by the compelling story of Harrison. (