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by: Dava Sobel  List Price: $25.95 Amazon.com's Price: $17.13 You Save: $8.82 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
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Binding: Audio CDDewey Decimal Number: 526.6209 EAN: 9780739323786 Edition: Unabridged Format: Audiobook, Unabridged ISBN: 0739323784 Label: Random House Audio Manufacturer: Random House Audio Number Of Items: 4 Publication Date: October 11, 2005 Publisher: Random House Audio Release Date: October 11, 2005 Studio: Random House Audio Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, John "Longitude" Harrison, who solved the problem that Newton and Galileo had failed to conquer, yet claimed only half the promised rich reward. Product Description: An exciting scientific adventure from the days of wooden ships and iron men, LONGITUDE is full of heroism and chicanery, brilliance and the absurd. It is also a captivating brief history of astronomy, navigation and clockmaking. During the great ages of exploration, "the longitude problem" was the gravest of all scientific challenges. Lacking the ability to determine their longitude, sailors were literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Ships ran aground on rocky shores; those traveling well-known routes were easy prey to pirates. In 1714, England's Parliament offered a huge reward to anyone whose method of measuring longitude could be proven successful. The scientific establishment--from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton--had mapped the heavens in its certainty of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had been able to do on land. And the race was on.... Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Longitude - Great for science-minded kids over 10I bought this for my visiting grandson. We had a fine time reading it together and discussing what a great invention longitude was, how many sailors' lives it saved, and the way the inventor had to fight to get the prize offered by the government for finding a way for sailors to know their exact location. I finally know why Greenwich is the "center" of time measurement. Easy to understand and yet very comprehensive on this fundamental subject. Rating: - Longitude is terrificThis book is a well-written story about how scientists and engineers figured out how to navigate the globe. It is a story that was well known in its day and forgotten within 50 years. Rating: - Surprisingly fantastic!My husband (a scientist) loves books on exploration and discovery. When he finished this book - surprisingly quickly - he said "you'll love this." Sure, I'll read anything once so I gave it a try. The author has such a knack with prose that this book basically read itself! Time flew when I picked it up and I was done in no time. What a fantastic surprise! When I finished it, I mailed it to my brother who read it & sent it to a friend; it;s that good.... Rating: - Very InterestingA short but well written book that sheds light on an almost forgotten man who changed the world. Interesting and fun to read, worth checking out. Rating: - Genuinely great story, but BEWARE of some inaccuracies in this book.John Harrison completes his first pendulum clock in 1713 before the age of 20. He made the gears for this out of wood which was radical for such a use, but as a carpenter, perhaps not to him---which is a mark of genius, I'd say; to reach beyond accepted norms in this manner. This he did after borrowing a book on math and the laws of motion; which he copied word for word, making his own copy. He incorporated different varieties of wood into his clock for strength and later invented a bi-metal pendulum ... Read More 
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