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Summary: Popular History
Review: Keep in mind this is a work of popular history, NOT some kind of legal, scientific, or historic document. If you want to learn how to make your own copy of Harrison's clock--as some other reviewers seem to imagine themselves doing--you need more than this.On the other hand, if you're looking for an interesting read about an oft-overlooked problem which was, despite one reviewers ravings to the contrary, one of the reasons Great Britain was able to forge an empire upon which the sun never set. Read LONGITUDE for what it is. That said, there is a problem with non-fiction: it doesn't often provide a storybook ending, and that is the case here. Harrison doesn't come away with a happing ending and live happily ever after, but fades and decays with time. Still, a satisfying read.
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Summary: FILLED WITH INANE SWEEPING GENERALIZATIONS
Review: As a sample of her need to justify of this minor work, the author states that it was the invention of the chronograph that allowed the building of the British Empire. One might think that it had something to do with the British people as well, but the author would disagree. The book reads like a college thesis gone awray from lack of quality research.
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Summary: never gets to the heart of the solution
Review: A very brief book filled with anecodotes about everything and everyone but the protagonist, Longitude never explains how a lone genius actually solves the problem. Dava Sobel writes poetically and fluidly but NEVER explains how Harrison makes a maritime clock, why it takes him 40 years to build a working model, how the models evolve or what motivated him to do it. Possibly the worst scientific reporting ever.
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Summary: Gain Appreciation of Lifelong Intensity
Review: Previous reviews certainly round out what this book is about. But one item not overly worked is the intensity of one man, John Harrison, to not only create, build, and improve his marine chronometer over a lifetime, but to make each example truly aesthetic, a device beautiful to behold at first glance, for both the casual and investigative eye. Moreover, the beauty of each device and the appreciation it can spawn extends beyond one's vision. For example, to lubricate the mechanism, its gears and most other parts made of wood, Harrison selected a tropical wood that secretes its own oils. Other lubricants at the time were of poor quality and soon gummed up the works. Lignum vitae did not. This is a wonderful story, well-told, with just the right stage entrances from more famous figures of the 18th century.
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Summary: Takes a page out of "Connections"
Review: Fans of James Burke will recognize a kindred spirit in Dana Sovell. She tells a story of a need that was every bit pressing in its' time as the need for clean energy or a cure for cancer today. Though it's a fast read, and not as in-depth as some might like, the style is very entertaining. As if this were an episode of Connections, she's not content merely to tell you the story of The Longitude. You'll also find out what king George III, the speed of light, and Charles Darwin have to do with it as well. The many digressions are entertaining, and brief enough that they do no detract from the main story.
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Summary: Delightful!
Review: This is a great book about a great topic. It is very well written, but if you want to understand more about the science behind it, you are on your own. I teach a class on "Heavenly Mathematics: Highlights on Cultural Astronomy" where I use this book. One of my students has written a mathematical supplement to this book. It's available on my home page. (Amazon won't let me give you the URL in the review, but just do a quick search on the web.)
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Summary: Fascinating story of a forgotten genius
Review: Not much to add to the many glowing reviews. Sobel writes a compelling story of the lone inventor who struggles all his life to create a world-changing invention, and to get the world to recognize its potential. After you read this book, go to the Greenwich Observatory to see the clocks in person.
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Summary: The great horological tale
Review: In this day and age of GPS and Satellite Positioning, it is at times hard to remember that there was a time when you could sometimes not be sure exactly where you were. Boats ran into land, flotillas ran into trouble when they didn't reach fresh water in time, wars were won and lost on a navy's luck at arriving in the right place at the right time. Longitude is the story of the search for a reliable form of finding exact longitude readings. Some historians have suggested that it was the British discovery of reliable methods of devising longitude readings that lead to their domination of the seas, and the development of the mighty British Empire. Captain Cook, King George II, Edmond Halley and Charles Darwin all get a mention in this book, but it is John Harrison and his attempts to win the Longitude prize offered by the British government that are major subjects of the story. Harrison, a self-taught clockmaker, spent forty years perfecting his maritime timekeepers. While topics such as clock-making and lunar charting could have been extremely dry, Sobel writes with a convincing passion that makes for engaging reading. While horology (the science of making timepieces or measuring time) may not be a topic you would normally consider reading about, Longitude will still have interest for most readers, as it contains maritime history, politics, geography, history, human interest, and good-guys & bad-guys battling it out. The search for the answer to the longitude problem is an important aspect of history, and one made interesting by Dava Sobel's book. Treat yourself to an enjoyable read that is sure to captivate you.
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Summary: Enjoyed the book
Review: Interesting story that I was unaware of before. Did find some of the details and structure not what I would have expected but overall a good book that I enjoyed.
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Summary: Another Hero of the Industrial Revolution - Creating Wealth
Review: No, the Marine Chronometer was not created by Ralph Nader nor Bobby Kennedy. I doubt, in fact, if John Harrison ever even filled out an Environmental Impact Report. He did have to kiss a lot of Royal Academy rings by the time he had finished creating a fantastic new way to measure longitude accurately. The amount of lives, ships, time and cargo saved by the use of his invention is incalculable. This is an example of the value that the benevolent heroes of the Industrial Revolution brought to peoples lives then and still do today. His creation is a shinning example of the goodness brought into the world by men of the mind. How can we ever repay them? I can only say thank you to them and to the wonderful author of this book. There should be more like her - and John Harrison. A shipping company could purchase one of Harrison's chronometers and could save millions and millions in vessels and goods that would have previously been lost at sea or stolen. The markets as a result were flooded with more and more goods that were before unavailable or extremely expensive or impossible to find. This is more goodness created by men of the mind. The author tells the suspenseful tale of Harrison's journey into clock making where he shinned like a fine jewel, over the objections of backward and prejudiced officials, and in the process solved one to the major scientific problems of his day. I love this kind of story. It gives me fuel to carry on when things get difficult in my own life and work. I have always respected the Industrialist Heroes; they always seemed rational and good. They were always acting in the face of adversity even while governmental parasites and officials were cursing them and calling them bad names. They just kept on thinking and working and producing; and the parasites just kept on spitting at them and calling them immoral! Like Ayn Rand says, ''in order for a thing to be moral, it must be practical'. That sure seems reasonable to me. I wonder what John Harrison would say? TO THE GLORY OF MAN
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