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

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The prizes were to be awarded to the first person to demonstrate a practical method for determining the longitude of a ship at sea. Each prize, in increasing amounts, was for solutions of increasing accuracy. These prizes, worth millions of dollars in today's currency, motivated many to search for a solution. Longitude: Millennium Edition The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.

Longitude Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary

The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars (2016) ISBN 9780143111344, OCLC 972263666 [10] In part three, watchmaker John Harrison blazed a trail. By virtue of talent and diligence, Harrison devotedly built increasingly more accurate and practical marine chronometers in the course of forty years, and solved the longitude problem. Younger generation of master watchmakers successfully revised and simplified his invention, which allowed it to be mass produced and applied widely in marine navigation.Harrison disdained Shakespeare, prohibiting A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet in his room, but he loved the handbook and Newtown’s Principia. These two books put his professional life in good stead. This is a review of a wonderfully fascinating book that I read in (say) April 1999 and listened to as an audiobook sometime about 24 May 2015. I thoroughly enjoyed it both times, although the technicalities of measuring Longitude were more difficult to comprehend when reading the paper book. Fortunately my somewhat dim memory assisted my comprehension as I listened to the audiobook. Arthritis: What Exercises Work: Breakthrough Relief for the Rest of Your Life, Even After Drugs and Surgery Have Failed. St. Martin's Press. 2015. ASIN 1250068681. In eighteenth century Europe, although scientists had long wrestled with the problem, sailors had no method of determining their longitude. The economic losses and the loss of life was so staggering that finding a solution to the problem was elevated to the almost legendary level of finding the Holy Grail or the Fountain of Youth. In the Longitude Act of 1714, the British Parliament offered a prize of 20,000 pounds (equivalent to several million dollars today) to anyone who found a "practicable and useful" means of determining longitude. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2012-06-28 14:31:06 Bookplateleaf 0003 Boxid IA139201 Boxid_2 CH126908 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City New York Donor

Longitude by Dava Sobel | Waterstones

I read this historical and biographical account in one evening. It's not without flaws, but I was fascinated and gave it 5 stars for holding my attention in a topic I rarely read about, where science, math, politics, and culture intersect with astronomical and nautical history. The technical details may be insufficient for some readers, but there was just enough for me. Author Dava Sobel caught my interest and held it. Kudos to her! Before Britannia could rule the waves, its captains needed to figure out where their ships were going and, just as importantly, how to return home. Our protagonist, John Harrison, was born into modest means. He was a carpenter by trade. Where Harrison developed the skills necessary to eventually create his chronometers is murky. What we know is that he was 21 years old when Parliament announced the Longitude Act. He undertook the challenge and had the rest of his life ahead of him to devote to the problem, which he did. Over time other ladies joined the group, thanks to the director’s farsighted hiring practices and the introduction of photography to astronomy. Instead of observing through the telescope by night, the women could analyze the stars in daylight on glass photographic plates. Harvard's female workforce grew accordingly, and its individual members won national and international acclaim for their discoveries. Before the 18th century, ocean navigators could not find an accurate way of determining longitude. A practical solution came from a gifted carpenter, John Harrison, who solved one of the most difficult problems of his time by creating an accurate chronometer. The best scientists of the time, including Sir Isaac Newton, thought it impossible. Harrison spent four decades perfecting a watch that would earn him compensation from Parliament and longitude rewards thanks to the recognition and influence of King George III of Great Britain.

The Longitude Problem

Dutton's Navigation and Piloting, 12th edition. G.D. Dunlap and H.H. Shufeldt, eds. Naval Institute Press 1972, ISBN 0-87021-163-3

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