Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest. The greek astronomers could measure latitude as early as the third century b. How copernicus revolutionised the cosmos dava sobel longitude dava sobel galileos daughter. Freebooknotes found 19 important quotes from 6 key chapters of longitude by dava sobel. Author dava sobel, however, cuts through all the more complicated principles like a good precalculus teacher. Through dava sobels consummate skill, longitude will open a new window on our world for all who pdf read it. They had no reliable means of determining longitude, and the resulting disasters. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time paperback nov. Sobel talked about the tragedies that followed with not finding longitude at sea and then the discoveries and trials that had occurred to find a final solution. The book celebrates earth and her nearest neighbors at this unique moment in history, when the old familiar solar family yields to a new definition of the word planet, and thousands of recently discovered exoplanets orbiting stars beyond the sun hold out the tantalizing possibility of extraterrestrial life. Awardwinning science writer dava sobel explores the great obsession of eighteenth. For example, the typesetter had inexplicably swapped. Lacking the ability to measure longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea. 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.
Longitude by dava sobel was a book that explained in great detail the struggle to find longitude at sea and way it was so necessary. This summary of longitude includes a complete plot. Longitude describes how scientists tried to find a way to determine eastwest locations at sea. Dava sobel born june 15, 1947 is an american writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Financial times a true life thriller, jampacked with political intrigue, international warfare, personal feuds and financial skullduggery. An exlibrary book and may have standard library stamps andor stickers. Couldnt get too far that way though, so i now all thats stopping me from watching star trek is writing this blog post and the fact that its past 2 am. 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. Author dava sobel, however, cuts through all the more complicated. Longitude was first published in 1996, occupying a substantial portion of many a waterstones table around christmastime. This is a popular history book, and as such does not have enough technical details of either the astronomical or mechanical approaches to the longitude problem for my taste.
It consists of dava sobels original text, this time swaddled in 178 illustrations intended to supplement sobels prose with. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his. See all 50 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time, dava sobel writes that the trick for. The subtitle of that book, the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific.
The story of john longitude harrison disproves this. Dava sobels longitude achieved bestselling status on the new york times nonfiction list in both hardcover and paperback. The science writer says that while researching her new book, the glass universe, she read fiction about the time period, such as the custom of the country and o pioneers. The publication of longitude in 1995 and its unexpected success transformed me into a fulltime author of books. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Its like writing one college term paper after another. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time paperback october 30, 2007. Longitude, bloomsbury publishing usa, 2010 208 pages.
When dava sobels longitude was published to universal acclaim in 1996, readers voiced only one regret. 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. Her books include longitude, about english clockmaker john harrison, and galileos daughter, about galileos daughter maria celeste, and the glass universe. Dava sobel, a former new york times science reporter, is the author of longitude walker 1995 and 2005, penguin 1996, galileos daughter walker 1999 and 2011, penguin 2000, the planets viking 2005, penguin 2006, a more perfect heaven walker bloomsbury 2011 and 2012, and the sun stood still bloomsbury, 2016 and the glass universe viking, 2016. In 1714, englands parliament offered a reward to anyone whose method or device for measuring longitude proved successful.
I first read longitude, by dava sobel, just after i finished high school, and i devoured it in a sitting or two. Daily mail rarely have i enjoyed a book as much as dava sobels longitude. Sobel attended antioch college and the city college of new york before receiving her bachelor of arts degree from the state university of new york at binghamton in 1969. The publication of longitude taught me that a book can actually improve by virtue of being read. Part biography, part history, part scientific exploration, longitude relates the quest for an accurate way to determine longitude. For your reference, we provided these longitude quotes with page numbers using the following version of the book. I greatly enjoy the more indepth research required for booklength projects. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time kindle edition by sobel, dava. November 28, 2011 most of us were born and grew up in the era when electronic items are of daytoday use, especially today when digital space is a huge presence in our professional as well as. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Dava sobel is an accomplished writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Awardwinning science writer dava sobel explores the great obsession of eighteenth century sciencethe longitude problemand how john harrison solved it. At the end of the book the author explains that she purposefully omitted. Dava sobel was born on june 15, 1947 in new york city, new york, usa. Longitude, by american writer dava sobel, is the true story of the quest to devise a reliable navigational instrument for sailors. Dava sobel is a former science writer for the new york times, as well as contributor to audubon, discover, life, and omni magazines. Because sequels and adaptations infest publishing as they do moviemaking, please note that the illustrated longitude is neither. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world. Moving between galileos grand public life and maria celestes sequestered world, sobel illuminates the florence of the medicis and the. 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. I finished reading this book while trying to watch star trek the original series at the same time. How the ladies of the harvard observatory took the measure of the stars. A 1964 graduate of the bronx high school of science, ms. Longitude by dava sobel and a great selection of related books.
The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time by dava sobel. Now william andrewes, the man who organised and hosted the longitude symposium that inspired her book, has joined sobel to create a richly illustrated version of her classic story. Former new york times reporter sobel coauthor, arthritis. A historical memoir of science, faith, and love dava sobel.
The longitude problem was the thorniest dilemma of the eighteenth century. At the heart of dava sobels fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation and horology is the biography of john harrison, selftaught yorkshire clockmaker, and his fortyyear obsession with building the perfect. Dava sobel is currently considered a single author. It was the first nonfiction book, i think, that i really.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading longitude. The true story of a lone genius who solved goodreads. Dava sobel has written a gem of a bookone of the best reads for the nonscientific writing to come along for many a moon. Dava sobel has written a beautiful book about a subject that in a lesser authors hands could have been exceedingly boring. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. The book has endorsements from patrick obrien and neil armstrong, and a blurb that cheerfully describes the search for. 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. That it has done so speaks well for the reading public in this country. Dava sobels 1995 book first came without illustrations, but to meet reader demands, her publisher released the illustrated longitude. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time by dava sobel, neil frw armstrong. Dava sobel 4 preparado por patricio barros progresivamente. Unlike parallels of latitude, which are fixed by nature, longitude is. 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.
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 true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time chapter 1. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Dava sobels first book, the highly acclaimed longitude 1995, told the story of john harrison. Editor november 24, 2011 in books, dava sobel, english, scientific history leave a comment updated. Sobel has written a short, superficial but informative book about the quest to discoverinvent a means of determining longitude at sea.
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