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

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Summary: Classic Story of a Sacrificial Pioneer
Review: Aspiring inventors should read this wonderful little book as a lesson in how to protect their ideas. Englishman John Harrison struggled his whole life to claim the prize for his amazing naval clocks, and in the end only received half of the gift. But perfection was his prime motivator, and he perservered . . . his clock winning out over the rival lunar eclipse method of telling time on the high seas. Besides telling a charming and compact human story, the real lesson of this book is to accept the loneliness of greatness because greatness is its own, sole, reward.

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Summary: Vivid storytelling but the book needs pictures & an editor
Review: I knew nothing about this topic before I read the book, and thus appreciated her vivid storytelling. However, there wouldn't be a story without Harrison's clocks, and it was tough trying to picture gridirons and grasshoppers and how everything came together. If she really cared about these clocks (and her readers), she would have given us at least a few line drawings and some photos larger than my thumbnail. My second complaint has to do with conflicting dates in the story. For example, on the cover the photo of H-3 is dated 1759 and H-4 is dated 1760. On page 99, she says Harrison "was to be subjected to many unpleasant trials that began after the completion of his masterpiece, the fourth timekeeper, H-4, in 1759." Were H-3 and H-4 developed simultaneously? Sobel never says. In the same vein, she says on page 150 that Cook took K-1 with him on his third expedition in 1776. On page 155 we learn that K-3 "shipped passage on HMS Discovery to take part in Cook's third tour." He took both of them? Again, Sobel never says. Some of these discrepancies may be due to how Sobel organized her material. By alternately discussing the two approaches to the longitude problem, she slips back and forth in time. Perhaps it would have been better to tell this story completely chronologically (and really, how fitting).

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Summary: For the Layman
Review: I listened, twice in fact. Now I want to read more. The book needs technical support, yes, for the scientist, but for me and the other no nothings it introduces a new historical perspective to navigation, seafaring. Highly recommended for the ignorant.

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Summary: A gem of a book, bright, sparkling and full of deep colour.
Review: Sobel's beautifully written account of the discovery of an accurate means of navigation at sea is enchanting. She tells the story of a scientific achievement setting it in the context of all that is best about a real life tale: intrigue, passion, excitement, tears and joy. The book takes the reader through a full spectrum of emotions, with its dastardly villains set against the patient and humble hero, without sentimentality or bitterness. It is a tale of beauty and ugliness, greatness and weakness - a very human story. You will not regret reading this.

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Summary: good book but needs pictures
Review: it is a shame that an otherwise good book about a mechanical engineering feat completely lacks ANY figures. This is a huge oversight

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Summary: Surprisingly fascinating - a real page-turner
Review: This little-known story of a little-known advance in naval navigation is a real surprise. Found the book by accident, started reading and could NOT put it down. A pure joy.

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Summary: A perfect sample of content balance and language mastery.
Review: John Harrison exemplifies the individual who works, fights and perserveres in the pursue of an objetive just for the sake of perfection. The Longitude story is a constant flow of adventure, science and history masterly narrated by Dava Sobel; whose domain of the English Language is the perfect frame and mean to tell it.

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Summary: Good Historical Review, Weak in Science
Review: Very good historical review of the longitude problem. High school reading level. Good biography on the primary inventor. Believe that book was the inspiration of a recent PBC, DSC or HIS documentary which got me interested in more information. The book has no illustartions or pictures except for the covers. I wished that more was said about how the moons of Jupiter were used to calculate position and the speed of light. I am still puzzled how the perfect timing of the dissapparance of the moons can determine longitude at sea when there are two variables to solve for - time of year (light takes longer to reach Earth when it's farther from Jupiter so the time needs corrected, I'm very confused)and longitude, seems to me a perfect clock is needed but one did not exist. There are a few other place where a person with a techincal background needs more information to be satified.

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Summary: excellent review of navigational history
Review: An excellent reivew of navigational history and complex problem requiring a few centuries to achieve solution. Interesting few hours read, for one with interest in history, navigation, or astronomy

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: A short overview of a complex problem that both and entertains and informs the reader. My one small complaintis that I would have liked more detail, diagrams and pictures.