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There are many factors besides the English interest in longitude at sea that drove the search. The novel, Longitude, gives the various attempts are creating a device or method to determine longitude while at sea.I think the story could have been told in a more engaging manner. On the other hand his story telling of history is extremely factual and full of details. The story of tracking longitude and the development of an accurate time piece tells about a time of boats and paper maps. It if hard for some to imagine the world before GPS and iphone when the concept of longitude was difficult to determine.
But a little repetition at my stage of life is a good thing. While reading this book, I couldn't help but marvel that while computers seem to address our every challenge today, this wasn't always so. Their creativity and stamina are enviable. I don't believe we ever outgrow our desire, or need, for picture books.
Dava Sobel recounts the story with a focus on the personalities involved -- people we studied long ago in school, like Galileo, Newton and Halley -- so the lay reader is drawn in by this complex tale that otherwise could have been offputting.It is regrettable, though, that the publisher chose not to illustrate the book. What do John Harrison's sea clocks and watches look like. What the reader comes away with from this book is The Big Idea: Do the heavens carry the secret of setting longitude with enough accuracy so that sailors can navigate safely, or might a well-crafted, sea-worthy timepiece just do the trick instead. He floods the reader with information.
The narrative is circular. In tracing the tale of early mapmaking and its trials, the author of this book might have erred too much in the other direction. I enjoyed spending some time in the company of these delightful -- and some not so delightful -- early scientists and craftsmen who sought to solve the problem of determining longitude. I couldn't help but compare Longitude with The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon, which I recently read.
I was constantly asking myself, Haven't I read this already. It is not the easiest book to follow, although written for the lay person. Clearly, the book grew out of an article.
The writed did a marvelous job of informing and keeping the story alive and me very interested. I became interested in this book after I saw the documentary on it.
Great depiction of scientific competition in the spirit of Tesla/Edison. Breezed through this on a rainy Saturday, and was pleasantly satisfied.
I recommend this book, not only for people interested on science and history but also for those that are studying english as a second language. With this book you can get very entertained. It is written in plain english, without complicate words and ideas; it explains the relation between time keeping and navigation problems in a very clear way: In the future I would like to read a Sobel's book about atomic clocks.
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