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The dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of one man's forty-year obsession to find a solution to the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--"the longitude problem."
Anyone alive in the eighteenth 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. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution-a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land.
Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.
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Subjects
Royal Society, Harrison timekeepers, Kendall timekeepers, Lunar distance method, Lunar tables, chronometer, GMT, Literature in Italian, History, Biography, Chronometers, Clock and watch makers, Measurement, Longitude, Long Now Manual for Civilization, Nonfiction, Science, Horology, Astronomical clocks, Research, Harrison, john, 1693-1776, Chronomètre, Navigatie, Sterrenkunde, Histoire, Scheepvaart, Horlogemakers, Geografische lengte, Large type books, Geography, Navigasjon, Biografi, Clocks and watch makers, Astronomical clock, Biographie, Schiffschronometer, Geografische Länge, Messung, Great britain, biography, Scientists, Social & cultural aspects of technology, Scientists - biography, Science - applied, Applied science, General & miscellaneous transportation, Physics, Exploration & discovery, Scient, Biography and autobiographyPeople
John Harrison, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Edmond Halley, Larcum Kendall, John Harrison (1693-1776)Places
Great Britain, EnglandTimes
Eighteenth CenturyShowing 10 featured editions. View all 39 editions?
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01
Longitude: the story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time
2007, Harper Perennial
in English
0007241836 9780007241835
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02
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
October 30, 2007, Walker & Company
Paperback
in English
- Reprint edition
080271529X 9780802715296
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03
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of his Time
September 15, 2005, Walker & Company
Hardcover
in English
0802714625 9780802714626
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04
Longitude: the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time
2005, MJF Books
in English
1606712764 9781606712764
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05
Longitude
July 1999, ISIS Large Print Books
Paperback
in English
- Large Print Ed edition
0753150379 9780753150375
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08
Longitude: the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time
1996, Fourth Estate
in English
1857025490 9781857025491
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09
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
October 1, 1996, Penguin (Non-Classics)
in English
0140258795 9780140258790
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10
Longitude: the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time
1995, Walker
in English
0802713122 9780802713124
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"Once on a Wednesday excursion when I was a little girl, my father bought me a beaded wire ball that I loved."
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First Sentence
"Once on a Wednesday excursion when I was a little girl, my father bought me a beaded wire ball that I loved."
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