Longitude : the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time / Dava Sobel.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Walker, 1995Description: viii, 184 pages ; 20 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 0802713122
  • 9780802713124
  • 9780802715296
  • 080271529X
  • 0140258795
  • 9780140258790
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Imaginary lines -- The sea before time -- Adrift in a clockwork universe -- Time in a bottle -- Powder of sympathy -- The prize -- Cogmarker's journal -- The grasshopper goes to sea -- Hands on heaven's clock -- The diamond timekeeper -- Trial by fire and water -- A tale of two portraits -- The second voyage of captain James Cook -- The mass production of genius -- In the meridian courtyard.
Summary: The story of mariners' centuries-long search for ways of determining longitude that tells not only of the scientific advances but of the perseverance, pettiness, politics, and interesting anecdotes involved. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest, and of John Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, brilliance and the absurd, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking. Through Dava Sobel's consummate skill, Longitude will open a new window on our world for all who read it.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Books Jost Bürgi Library Reading Room QB225 .S64 1995 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 31560000042594

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-180) and index.

Imaginary lines -- The sea before time -- Adrift in a clockwork universe -- Time in a bottle -- Powder of sympathy -- The prize -- Cogmarker's journal -- The grasshopper goes to sea -- Hands on heaven's clock -- The diamond timekeeper -- Trial by fire and water -- A tale of two portraits -- The second voyage of captain James Cook -- The mass production of genius -- In the meridian courtyard.

The story of mariners' centuries-long search for ways of determining longitude that tells not only of the scientific advances but of the perseverance, pettiness, politics, and interesting anecdotes involved. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest, and of John Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, brilliance and the absurd, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking. Through Dava Sobel's consummate skill, Longitude will open a new window on our world for all who read it.

31560000042594 293

Dava Sobels bestselling biography of John Harrison

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