Longitude

This slim volume, first published in 1995, possibly jump-started the current genre of science narratives–I was certainly well aware of it when World on Fire was published in 2005. The tale begins in 1707 when the English fleet crashed into the Scilly Isles twenty miles southwest of England; two thousand men drowned, all because navigators had misgauged longitude.

The desperate quest for a solution becomes a well-funded race to make sure this never happens again. Sobel chronicles how it was solved by a simple clockmaker, and the obstacles thrown in his path by the more respected members of the era’s… show more.

Dava Sobel’s made-for-the-public story about a David-versus-Goliath contest to solve a centuries-old problem was the first scientific blockbuster when it came out in 1998. It was the model that future science historians like me strove to replicate–addressing important but arcane scientific controversies in a clear, accessible way.

Sobel made this story relatable to a broad audience by focusing on the travails of one underdog, a rural carpenter named John Harrison, who went up against the British astronomy establishment to discover how to plot longitude at sea by inventing a precise marine chronometer.

The 1761 voyage of HMS Deptford established the… show more.

I loved how this book reads like a thriller—a David and Goliath thriller—in which a lowly clockmaker competed against the foremost scientists of his era and won—and even after he had won, he had to fight dastardly efforts by the elites of his day to deprive him of his prize and hard-earned fame.

The book spoke to my fascination with how things get made and why craftsmanship is important. But it also spoke to my concern with class and how those in power can rig things to their benefit, with, in this case, the happy result that good triumphed over… show more.

Especially when travelling to unfamiliar places, we take for granted how easy it is to know both the exact time and our exact location, yet until just three hundred years ago, the lives of sailors and, by extension, the fates of nations relied in no small part on good fortune.

This book tells the story of how this issue was solved by an English clockmaker committed to making our world more comprehensible and navigable while pocketing a healthy financial reward in the process. As someone with a specific interest in the science and politics of invisible lines, it is perhaps… show more.

Longitude tells the remarkable true story of the 18th-century watchmaker, John Harrison, whose groundbreaking timepieces provided the solution to one of the most significant mapping problems in history: knowing where you are when navigating at sea.

The story behind longitude combines a ripping yarn of intrigue, injustice, and interpersonal rivalry with true scientific and engineering innovation that changed the world forever.

Beyond being a great true story, the book always reminds me of the enormous technological challenges behind navigation at sea, something we take for granted in today’s world. Living in Australia, it is also a reminder of the incredible… show more.

I adore books that go deep into fascinating minutiae, and Longitude is a master class in that.

Sobel looks at John Harrison’s quest to solve a problem that had bedeviled mariners and scientists for centuries: How do you keep accurate time at sea so you can determine your longitude—where you are, east to west?

Sailors and scientists had tried and failed to solve the puzzle, but Harrison finally did it, and the story of how he did it is both prosaic and world-changing in its detail and scope.

Plus, it’s just a ripping good yarn of failures, setbacks, and seafaring… show more.

Until about the mid-18th century, ships routinely got lost when out of sight of land, their crews at risk of starvation, dying of thirst, or being wrecked on inconveniently located rocks. While the likes of Galileo had failed to find a solution in the stars to navigation's "longitude problem", English clockmaker John Harrison was convinced he had the mechanical answer. Sobel's finely and simply crafted tale highlights the jealousies of powerful people that Harrison had to overcome in proving his point.