A really superior book. It explains the problems which mariners had in establishing their longitude at sea, and how the problem was solved by John Harrison, a carpenter turned clockmaker, whom developed the first marine chronometer accurate enough at sea to allow navigators to establish their longitude accurately. Mariner's could finally safely plot their course at sea by using both longitude and latitude to determine their true position in the vast ocean. Dava Sobel, also the author of The Planets, wonderfully plots a course through Longitude that discloses not only the science of navigation, but also delves into the intrique involved in Mr. Harrison trying to claim his prize for solving the longitude problem from the Longitude Committee. She explains the ambitions of all the participants and why it became difficult for John Harrison to claim his prize. This is a story of geography, science, astronomy, navigation, clock making and intrigue that is skillfully told by an artist in her craft of writing. Definitely BUY this book. ( )

Despite the fact that it took me forever to finish this book (not because it is long or boring, just lots of other things got in the way...other books...), I really enjoyed it! I found the developments discussed in relation to solving the "finding longitude at sea" problem very fascinating. It wasn't overly technical, nor overly simplified. Good sciency read. It had some rather surprisingly humorous elements as well. ( )

Read in a single evening, a Christmas gift from Joanne Shea. Sobel wrote a journalistic account of the quest for the Longitude prize, and the tricks that the Royal Astronomers played on William Harrison, the inventor of the first chronometer that did not vary with wave motion at sea. The astronomers would have prefered a method based on the position of the moon among the fixed stars, and resorted to every delaying tactic to avoid paying the prize to a mere technician. ( )

This has been on my "to read" list forever. Finally, I went to a talk given by Dava Sobel and knew I had to read it; her speech was interesting and in layman's terms. The book is the same; interesting without being overly technical. It is a fascinating story of 18th century discovery and seafaring, and the competition among clockmakers and astronomers to discover the very important key to determining longitude at sea. A grand prize was at stake and there was a bit of old-fashioned skullduggery that kept the prize from being awarded to a deserving inventor until late in his life. Now on to reading Ms. Sobel's book on Galileo's Daughter! ( )

An interesting review of John Harrison's work to create the first martine timepiece and to solve the Longtitude problem. It was a interesting story, well told, but lacked detail. ( )