Longitude

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

De: Dava Sobel

Narrado por: Kate Reading, Neil Armstrong

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....

©2005 Dava Sobel (P)2009 Random House

Surprisingly good

I bought this book in an Amazon Deal and I had no much expectation about it. However, I could stop to read it and finished it in two days. The book has a friendly storytelling approach that engage across not only Harrison’s challenge, but the longitude’s too. Highly recommended for those who like history, watches or a good story.

Great Book!

Very interesting story of how humanity finally conqueres the problem of longitude. It was great!

fascinating history of time keeping

I have a much greater appreciation for clocks, time keeping, navigation, and the influence these inventors made on their times.

John Harrison Changed the World!

Some readers may find this book a dry read, but I found it fascinating. One has to imagine a world before Harrison, unable to accurately track movement from east to west or west to east before they can truly appreciate the value of Harrison‘s contribution. I have been to the Prime Meridian at Greenwich and have seen the sea clocks; I could only gaze in amazement at the design, artistry, and accuracy that he injected into his creations. Do yourself a favor and travel to Greenwich England, one day to see his works.

Wonderful example of how scientific discovery works

This book describes the torturous path of scientific discovery from the silly to the funny to the serious solutions to the longitude problem. It details the personal costs to the story’s protagonist to find a solution, Written in conversational language, the book makes complex science and technology easy to follow and interesting to learn. Great book for students, teachers, scientists, and history enthusiasts.

Wonderful Reader for a Story We Shouldn't Forget

This is a wonderful story. I loved it from the point of view of a researcher. I loved it from the point of view as a history buff. I loved it from the point of view as a person who appreciates hearing of human stories and emotions.

A greater understanding

Longitude is about time. The more I read this book the more fascinated I became with the connection between longitude and time and the efforts to be able to know our global location.

Very interesting. Very Entertaining. Excellent!

What made the experience of listening to Longitude the most enjoyable?

Learning about the surprisingly difficult quest to understand how longitude is calculated.

What did you like best about this story?

The intrigue and back-stabbing amongst the scientific community trying to crack the longitude mystery.

What about Kate Reading and Neil Armstrong ’s performance did you like?

Kate Reading was great. As a non-fiction book, it didn't have character voices or anything like that, but her performance was superb.

Armstrong read the introduction (that he wrote) only. It was short and nice to hear the viewpoint of the astronaut.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I enjoyed the entire thing.

Any additional comments?

Great true story that you probably haven't heard, yet is so very important to so much travel and navigation that we take for granted in the 21st Century. At just over 4 hours long, it's the perfect length for a non-fiction history.

I Never Tire of the LONGITUDE story!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! It is so well produced, especially now that Neil Armstrong has died. His introduction to this book is a treasure.

What did you like best about this story?

Sobel keeps the human story so interesting the science never gets in the way.

Which character – as performed by Kate Reading and Neil Armstrong – was your favorite?

Both are marvelous!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Harrison the clock maker beats England's greatest astronomers to win the prize for discovering longitude.

Any additional comments?

Dava Sobel writes a fascinating story on whatever she decides to write about.

Great book to supplement H.S. Geography

If you’re looking for engaging stories for middle school and high school Geography students, this book belongs on your syllabus.