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Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

3 Ratings: 4.0

A book by Dava Sobel

The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, … see full wiki

Tags: Books, Book, Cafe Libri, Nonfiction, History, Science

Author: Dava Sobel

Genre: Professional & Technical

Publisher: Penguin

3 reviews about Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius...

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review by cpw1952. December 06, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

An epic 40 year struggle!

Dava Sobel, like Simon Winchester or Canada's Pierre Berton, has clearly mastered the art of writing history in a form that is not only informative but, perhaps more important, is also compelling and entertaining. In eighteenth century Europe, although scientists had long wrestled with the problem, sailors had no method of determining their longitude. The economic losses and the loss of life was so staggering that finding a solution to the problem was elevated to the … more

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review by CharlesAshbacher. October 30, 2007

A story of mechanical genius that may be unequaled

The last years of the seventeenth century and the first years of the eighteenth century saw the rise of significant global commerce. With few land routes and none capable of handling large amounts of cargo, the only option for shipping was via the oceans. As long as the ships stayed within sight of land, they generally knew where they were. However, that had its' dangers as it was always possible that a storm would dash the ship onto the land. Furthermore, many of the new voyages required movement … more

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review by JSMaresca. March 23, 2004

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Longitude by Sobel

The work describes historical attempts to determine the exact position of objects at sea. The author describes the solar and lunar eclipse. Werner used the moon as a location finder. Galileo designed a navigation helmut-the celatone. Harrison constructed a table of the sun rising and setting. Nevil mas Kelyne published a Nautical Almanac which depicted lunar/solar-stellar distances. This book is perfect for science buffs … more

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