Longitude
The dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of one man's forty-year obsession to find a solution to the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--"the longitude problem." Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day-and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations hung on a resolution. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution-a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.
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41recommend
51mentions
49people
2008–2025years
82% recommend16% neutral2% critical
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What Hacker News says
- Yes, this is a brilliant book, and well worth reading. Another other one in the same vein is "Longitude" by Dava Sobel: https://www.amazon.com/Longitude-Genius-Greatest-Scientific-...
- Longitude dava sobel
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- A decent, short book on the historical story behind H4 (and the rest of Mr. Harrison’s time-keepers) is “Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time” by Dava Sobel. It goes into the longitude competition, the people involved, and how Harrison was able to (eventually) win with his timekeepers.
- There's a book called Longitude by Dava Sobel which is about how the problem of determining longitude was solved. The Galiilean moons approach is discussed in the book.
I'm busy reading the book so this article caught my eye. It's been really good so far.
- I'd just like to throw out a recommendation here for the book Longitude by Dava Sobel. It's about the invention of the marine chronometer by a self-taught carpenter. Fascinating read, and a real page turner too.
