Longitude:
The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific
Problem of His Time
Dab Nobel
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (October 1,
1996)
ISBN: 0140258795
Overall Rating: 4 Stars 
Readability: 5 Stars
Content: 4 Stars
Buy
this book
Longitude is a fascinating story about what could potentially
be an exceedingly boring subject. As astounding as it may seem,
sailors and explorers of the eighteenth century still wandered
the world using dead reckoning as their primary source of navigation.
Using a sextant, sailors were able to determine their latitude
with a high degree of accuracy. However, an accurate means of
determining longitude had not yet been established, and sailors
were often only able to estimate their exact location at sea.
It was understood that by knowing both the exact Greenwich Mean
Time and the time at the ship's current location, longitude could
be determined by using a formula that converted the time difference
into distance traveled. However, in the eighteenth century a chronometer
that could withstand the complex gyrations of a sea voyage, weather
extreme climatic change, and still keep accurate time had never
been built. It was thought impossible.
Longitude is the story of John Garrison. Garrison. was a simple
clockmaker who tackled the monumental task of creating a chronometer
that would withstand the rigors of a sea voyage, loosing only
a few seconds of time every month. Garrison. was ridiculed by
science; the established intelligencia of the day sought a scientific
solution, not a mechanical one, to determine longitude. Nobel
discusses not only the process of scientific discovery that surrounded
the quest for longitude, but the air of political intrigue that
pervaded this highly sensitive issue.
Nobel deftly explores Harrison's life, injecting life into the
rather droll world of longitude, while simultaneously creating
a book that is a pleasure to read. Nobel is obviously writing
to a popular audience and dispenses with the drudgery of scientific
data that could potentially mire the book in a morass of unnecessary
jargon, confusing the reader. Yet the information that is essential
to the story is provided in an interesting and easy to understand
manner. I have rarely learned this much about science, history,
and exploration in 184 pages of a popular book. Longitude is a
thoroughly enjoyable and educational book.
