The Man Who Made Time Travel

A good introduction to the subject and excellent illustrations, but the text is somewhat sloppy. It gives the impression that the writer understood the drama but not the technology.

Summary:
Back in the day, many ships were lost at sea because they didnt know where they were. Longitude was immeasurable and this made it hard to get across the ocean. Many sailors died and this had to end. In 1714 the Longitude Prize (20,000 pounds) was offered to anyone who could create a reliable way to measure Longitude. Many scientists attempted it but it came down to a clockmaker who came up with this concept that changed history. He made five designs and the last one was the best. He was never officially awarded the prize or named the winner, he did however, get the money.

Personal Reaction:
I liked this book because it was very interesting and my husband is in the Navy and spends a lot of time on ships. It was nice to see a piece show more of history, I only wish the man got credit for what he invented.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Design your own clock and explain how it would work.
2. Learn about coordinates and traveling on the sea show less

Summary: The story of John Harrison and his life long quest to create a reliable timepiece that would allow sailors to determine their exact longitude while at sea.
Response: Immensely interesting and readable. This book explains the difficulty early sailors had in navigating the seas because they had no way to accurately measure their longitude. Wonderful illustrations take a complicated subject and make it approachable for a child in primary grades.
Classroom connection: Show various clocks set to different times and determine the longitude of the different time zones.

This is a book about the history of the clock and how it became so portable. The problem started out when sailors were not able to determine their position at sea. Was there an easy way to do so? There were many proposed solutions; many of which were absurd but a man named John Harrison decided that he could build a clock that would keep time even at sea. He was an uneducated young man and was not taken seriously at first but as he improved his model his clocks became more and more accurate. He was competing for a very large sum of money but it took him decades to receive his prize. Eventually he did and he is responsible for many explorers finding their way.
I found this book a little dry. It was long but contained good information. The show more illustrations were not compelling and I barely noticed them although the ones at the end that showed the cocks in more detail were interesting. I feel like it could have been a very interesting subject had the author reduced the length but I am glad to have read it and learned the history behind the clocks that we now have. I had no idea! show less

In the 1700s, there was no way to know the time or the longitude when sailors were out on the sea. A group of men came together and created the Board of Longitude, which would award somone the prize of 20,000 pounds if they created a way to keep time and longitude on a sailing ship. Many men tried, and failed, but John Harrison had a love for clocks and bells, so he gave it a shot. After making five clocks, that worked almost perfectly, he was never awarded the prize. Harrison petitioned the king, and when he saw that the clock had all of the requirements and worked, he gave the prize to Harrison. Harrison dedicated his entire adult life to making the perfect clock for sailors to use on their ship. This book could be used to teach about show more nonfiction, biographies, or a chain of events, because it tells the story in chronological order, and goes through Harrisons' entire life. show less

Lovely picture book about Harrison's quest to measure longitude. Great example to children: we're all capable of great things.

It was only 300 years ago, that ships where still having difficulty navigating the high seas, and were constantly getting lost due to not being able to triangulate their location with accurate longitude (east-west bearing). After a great tragedy at sea, Brittan set a large prize for anyone who could solve this problem. John Harrison, a simple carpenter made it his life's work to build a clock that could keep accurate time at sea, allowing distances to be measured by comparing them to Brittan's time. It takes his who life and several tries, but John is successful an has given the world what is now know as a chronometer. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning new things, and enjoying a good book.