Longitude : the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time / Dava Sobel ; with an introduction by Neil Armstrong.
Material type: TextPublisher: London : Fourth Estate, 2014Edition: Special anniversary editionDescription: xviii, 183 pages : illustrations ; 19 cmContent type:- text
- still image
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780007559367
- 0007559364
- Harrison, John, 1693-1776
- Harrison, John, 1693-1776
- Clock and watch makers -- England -- Biography
- Astronomical clocks -- England -- History
- Horology
- Astronomical instruments -- History
- Longitude -- Research -- History
- Astronomical clocks
- Astronomical instruments
- Clock and watch makers
- Horology
- England
- Chronometers History
- United Kingdom
- Harrison longitude
- Biography
- Navigation
- Marine Chronometer
- Clock and watch makers Biography Great Britain
- Longitude Measurement History
Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Books | Jost Bürgi Library Reading Room | QB225 .S64 2014 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 31560000042602 |
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QB225 .S63 1998 The illustrated longitude / | QB225 .S63 1998 The illustrated longitude / | QB225 .S64 1995 Longitude : the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time / | QB225 .S64 2014 Longitude : the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time / | QB280.5 .G67 2008 v.1 Les méridiennes du monde et leur histoire / | QB280.5 .G67 2008 v.2 Les méridiennes du monde et leur histoire / | QB291 .M49 1911 Grundlagen des dezimalen metrischen systems; oder Messung des meridianbogens zwischen den breiten von Dünkirchen und Barcelona, ausgeführt im jahre 1792 und in den folgenden, |
Originally published: U.S.: Walker, 1995.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-180) and index.
In the tercentenary year of the Longitude Act, Fourth Estate present an anniversary edition of Dana Sobel's bestselling history of an epic scientific quest and the unlikely triumph of an English genius. With an introduction by Neil Armstrong. Anyone alive in the 18th 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. The quest for a solution had occupied scientists and their patrons for the better part of two centuries when, in 1714, Parliament upped the ante by offering a king's ransom (GBP20,000) to anyone whose method or device proved successful. Countless quacks weighed in with preposterous suggestions. The scientific establishment throughout Europe - from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton - had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution. Full of heroism and chicanery, brilliance and the absurd, 'Longitude' is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation and clockmaking.
31560000042602 19360
Republished on the tricentenial of the Longitude Act of 1714
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