Battle of the books list 2 titlesauthors flashcards. The book became a surprise bestseller and is still in print. Determined to stop shipping losses on the oceans of the 18th century, britains parliament offers a fabulous cash award to anyone who can devise a way to determine longitute at sea. The book was chosen to honor cliff lanham, a longtime member of the club who died last year. The concluding chapter of longitude is a very touching account of her personal visit to zero longitude in greenwich where this writer also straddled that magic line embedded in the pavement. The author dava sobel, in her famous book longitude, recounts the story of john harrison, who created the first reliable chronometer with which to accurately gauge longitude at sea and hence solve the serious problems that failure to navigate and chart the positions of ships at sea invariably led to at the time, which was so serious it was a question of national interest to the. Dava sobel, near the end of your book, you write, coming face to face with these machines at last, after having read countless accounts of their. In 1714, the english parliament passed the longitude act. Numerous attentive readers took the trouble to write to me to point out typos or other errors in the text, which the publisher then corrected in subsequent editions. Christina thompson author of sea people, writer, editor. For anyone that is interested in a similar type of story related to a technical puzzle, try fermats enigma by simon singh. Executive producers pippa cross, delia fine, anthony root. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of harrisons fortyyear obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer.
A historical memoir of science, faith, and love is a book by dava sobel. Longitude in an age where technological marvels are so common they verge on the blase, its a particular pleasure to be transported back to an era where keeping an accurate track of. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time chapter 1. Awardwinning science writer dava sobel explores the great obsession of eighteenth century sciencethe longitude problemand how john harrison solved it. This short, satisfying historical account chronicles clockmaker john harrisons revolutionary approach to solving the uppermost dilemma of his timedetermining longitude at sea.
Sailnet community kindle book longitude on sale again. It was written and directed by charles sturridge and stars michael gambon as clockmaker john harrison 16931776 and. For anyone that is interested in a similar type of story related to a technical puzzle, try fermats enigma by. But despite that the book was a pure joy to read and i appreciated the authors use of humor in her writing, which to me makes any book just that much better to read, even though it is indeed a rather serious subject. British mail steamers to south america 18511965, robert forrester. Or does anyone know a great site besides sparknotes, which doesnt have the novel that can help me with the main aspects of the book. The glossary at the back of simon winchesters biography of william smith, the father of. It was nominated for the 2000 pulitzer prize for biography or autobiography.
This summary of longitude includes a complete plot. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. There are many supplemental books, such as the offerings provided by the cliffs notes people. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers. October 30, 2007 dava sobel the publication of longitude taught me that a book can actually improve by virtue of being read. It is on this island that bligh hopes to replenish the ship. Longitude, bloomsbury publishing usa, 2010 208 pages.
I would even suggest this book could appeal to adventurous 8th graders. I would be much more conversant on science and technology if dava sobel had been a teacher at my school. It was the first nonfiction book, i think, that i really. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time ebook.
The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time is a bestselling book by dava sobel about john harrison. After reading a book about mason and dixon and all of the incredibly for me complex math and astronomy involved, i was slow to begin this book. Sobel s book is good on the people and politics of the longitude question, but has little detail on the actual timepieces. Dava sobel, the writer of the original book longitude 1995 on which the series is based, wrote this of h4. Moving between galileos grand public life and maria celestes sequestered world, sobel illuminates the florence of the medicis and the. The problem of longitude was long regarded as unsolvable.
The subtitle of that book, the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific. A fascinating problem it was ptolemy in geographia, written in the 2nd century, who. I just finished reading this novel as it was required of me for summer reading for school. The author dava sobel, in her famous book longitude, recounts the story of john harrison, who created the first reliable chronometer with which to accurately gauge longitude at sea and hence solve the serious problems that failure to navigate and chart the positions of ships at sea invariably led to at the time, which was so serious it was a question of national interest to the very future. I first read longitude, by dava sobel, just after i finished high school, and i devoured it in a sitting or two. Longitude from dava sobel is a fascinating account of how a virtually unknown watchmaker named john harrison conquered one of the oldest and thorniest problems surrounding the ocean voyages the problem of accurately measuring longitude, which stumped even the best of scientific minds for centuries. This book records the story of the politics surrounding the search for the ability reliably to know ones position, particularly at sea. Longitude channel 4 2000 with michael gambon and jeremy. How copernicus revolutionized the cosmos, a history that is. Longitude by dava sobel, 9780007214228, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. It is the mona lisa or the night watch of horology, by which she means clockmaking.
The island of namuka, one of the friendly islands, is sighted on april 23. Freebooknotes found 19 important quotes from 6 key chapters of longitude by dava sobel. It established the board of longitude and offered a prize of 20,000 pounds to anyone who could find a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ships longitude. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time by dava sobel. All the islands inside this triangle were originally settled by a clearly identifiable group of voyagers. Longitude split the earth into segments much like an orange 360. That story is told most eloquently by dava sobel in her 1995 book, longitude.
Dava sobel s first book, the highly acclaimed longitude 1995, told the story of john harrison. Using some 100 letters as the basis of this accounting, dava sobel who also authored the historical longitude has created a work that is more than just a dissertation on galileo. Sobel dava sobel longitude the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. In longitude, dava sobel chronicles the worlds quest to tame time. Its short, suspenseful, entertaining, has pictures, and is must reading. Dava sobel is a former science writer for the new york times, as well as contributor to audubon, discover, life, and omni magazines. The true story of a lone genius who solved goodreads. It is a dramatisation of the 1995 book of the same title by dava sobel.
For instance, many of my students have enjoyed doing reports on dava sobel s longitude. A teacher recommended it to me when i was in high school and i think it was the first nonfiction book i read voluntarily and enjoyed. Galileos daughter dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishment of a mythic figure whose seventeenthcentury clash with catholic doctrine continues to define the schism between science and religion. The men feel morose and resentful after leaving the idyllic life of tahiti. The bountys crew performs its duties as usual, but there is little heartiness displayed. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. This is the issue central to dava sobel s fine and absorbing a more perfect heaven. Longitude tv movie 2000 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. For your reference, we provided these longitude quotes with page numbers using the following version of the book.
The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time, dava sobel writes that the trick for. Academy award winner jeremy irons stars in this sweeping adaption of dava sobel s bestselling book of high seas adventure and political intrigue. In the 1920s, naval officer rupert gould is determined to restore the longitude clocks of 18th century genius john harrison. There is a fantastic book about the background to harrison becoming a clockmaker, longitude by dava sobel, isbn 10. At sea, there were no landmarks by which ones eastwest position could be tracked. The polynesian triangle is an area of ten million square miles, defined by the three points of hawaii, new zealand, and easter island. Longitude is the story of english clockmaker john harrison and how he figured out how to track longitude, or the eastwest position of ships. I think i got the main gist of the novel, but im not sure if i understood all of the main points. In a whirl of announcements and events designed to capture the imagination of the public, the longitude prize was launched in the summer of 2014. We own longitude pdf, doc, txt, djvu, epub formats. On wednesday, april 11th, a dozen of us met at the kensington row bookshop to discuss longitude. It is based on the surviving letters of galileo galileis daughter, the nun suor maria celeste, and explores the relationship between galileo and his daughter.
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