Longitude

This is a really well-written story of the quest to solve the "longitude problem" and the forces and groups at play. An interesting look into the driving force for accurate timekeeping and how important it was for circumnavigation. It is a continual reminder that the basis for technological leaps that lead to significant technological advances can come from any problem anywhere. The pursuit of the solution not only yields that solution but opens up avenues for side-quests that develop yet new advances and directions. Great read for the history and the people in play.

I found the problem here fascinating, but the solution pretty straightforward. I enjoyed the internal politics and the look at the lives of famous scientists, but I didn't get a lot of a sense of how Harrison clock was different.

It feels like his first idea to address a problem worked, and then he kept improving it for the rest of his life. But I'm not sure what scientific adversity he faced or how he solved his problems.

More biography than science book, Dava Sobel's Latitude chronicles the struggle of the now famous John Harrison to have his incredible chronometer be taken seriously by an establishment elite who were none to impressed by being out-thought by a self-taught commoner! Interestingly, one of the supporting cast here, Flamsteed, appeared in a fictional capacity in my previous read, The Chronos Clock. Sobel doesn't dwell on the intricacies of telling longitude by the astronomical or timekeeping methods so this book doesn't enable the reader to go out and complete calculations for themselves. Instead she concentrates on the human story of John Harrison and his son, William. Their struggle seems all the more poignant given how successful later cheaper copies of his inventions went on to be. Sobel's romantic storytelling style - we have definite heroes and villains - makes this an easy book to read, more historical novel than history although it is factual. It is a good starting point and inspired both further reading and a visit to Greenwich for me. We were right there, outside the museum that houses Harrison's chronometers, a couple of summers ago, but didn't pay up to go inside. Having both enjoyed reading this book I think we'll be returning pretty soon!

Short, crisp, and quite enjoyable history of the longitude problem. As a help to understand the mechanical devices described in this book, I looked at videos and animations of Harrison's chronometers available online. That helped a lot in understanding the scale of achievement of John Harrison. The author does not attempt to make a "what happened at the end?" mystery out of this story. The summary of what happened is stated right at the beginning. The author instead engages the reader by providing the context of the times, the details of the challenges, and so on. This approach works quite well.
Those of you who work in engineering will find the technology development challenges described in this book quite relatable!

A fascinating look at a defining moment in technological development. Full of intrigue, double-crossing, maths, and science.

It cracks along at a fair pace, sometimes lightly skipping over ... shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/01/book-review-longitude/

I have a unique talent for getting lost. I would not have been a good explorer. This book just drives that point home for me. I frequently get lost (or, as I like to describe it, take the long way home) and it is a source of humor for my husband when he gets the phone call telling him I have no idea where I am. And Las Vegas really isn't big enough to get lost in.

Anyway, "Longitude" examines the problem of how it could accurately be charted and how many worked tirelessly to find a way. Part history, part science, I found it interesting to see how early minds tackled this problem that we take for granted with all of our technology. It's something I hadn't considered before.

Harrison had an fascinating mind to imagine and invent the marine chronometer necessary to solve the puzzle. And for that, dear sir, we thank you for the innovations that keep us from being lost on this big planet.

This is quite a short read, and it's not going deep into the history behind everything. However it is a good read, and covers the important parts in an enjoyable way.

A minuscule group. Four, eventually, one of whom was a newbie and hadn't read the book. (But is local and is looking for a book group. So maybe she'll be back.) There wasn't really that much to say about the book. This was the second edition. The first edition had had the same words, but had no pictures of the clocks. And the readers complained vehemently about this that they issued a new edition, with a small section of pictures - including one of each of the four clocks. (I don't remember any pictures when I read it before. I do remember doing a google image search on them.)