Longitude

Longitude
Author: Dava Sobel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2010-07-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0802779433

The dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of one man's forty-year obsession to find a solution to the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--"the longitude problem." Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day-and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations hung on a resolution. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution-a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. 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.

The Longitude Prize

The Longitude Prize
Author: Joan Dash
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (BYR)
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2000-10-13
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN:

The story of John Harrison, inventor of watches and clocks, who spent forty years working on a time-machine which could be used to accurately determine longitude at sea.

The Illustrated Longitude

The Illustrated Longitude
Author: Dava Sobel
Publisher: Paw Prints
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008-10-08
Genre: Chronometers
ISBN: 9781439559321

A new illustrated edition of the best-selling Longitude chronicles the tale of the eighteenth-century inventor John Harrison, who created the chronometer and, in the process, saved thousands of lives and great fortunes. Reprint.

Ships, Clocks, and Stars

Ships, Clocks, and Stars
Author: Richard Dunn
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 601
Release: 2014-11-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 0062357174

A tale of eighteenth-century invention and competition, commerce and conflict, this is a lively, illustrated, and accurate chronicle of the search to solve “the longitude problem,” the question of how to determine a ship’s position at sea—and one that changed the history of mankind. Ships, Clocks, and Stars brings into focus one of our greatest scientific stories: the search to accurately measure a ship’s position at sea. The incredible, illustrated volume reveals why longitude mattered to seafaring nations, illuminates the various solutions that were proposed and tested, and explores the invention that revolutionized human history and the man behind it, John Harrison. Here, too, are the voyages of Captain Cook that put these revolutionary navigational methods to the test. Filled with astronomers, inventors, politicians, seamen, and satirists, Ships, Clocks, and Stars explores the scientific, political, and commercial battles of the age, as well as the sailors, ships, and voyages that made it legend—from Matthew Flinders and George Vancouver to the voyages of the Bounty and the Beagle. Featuring more than 150 photographs specially commissioned from Britain’s National Maritime Museum, this evocative, detailed, and thoroughly fascinating history brings this age of exploration and enlightenment vividly to life.

The Quest for Longitude

The Quest for Longitude
Author: William J. H. Andrewes
Publisher: Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
Total Pages: 456
Release: 1996
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

The Quest for Longitude is a book for students and for teachers, for collectors and for scholars, and for the thousands of people who, having enjoyed Sobel's Longitude, desire a well-illustrated reference that describes in detail the many fascinating devices and the intriguing characters who, by solving the ancient problem of finding longitude at sea, changed the world forever. 250 illustrations, 120 in color.

Newton's Forgotten Lunar Theory

Newton's Forgotten Lunar Theory
Author: Nick Kollerstrom
Publisher:
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2000
Genre: Science
ISBN:

"Around the turn of the eighteenth century, one of the most pressing practical scientific problems was accurate prediction of the moon's position. Although Isaac Newton had hoped to solve this problem using the dynamic approach developed in Principia in 1687, he never succeeded in doing so. Instead, he reverted to an old-fashioned kinematic theory, using epicyclic motion. A terse summary of the theory was published in 1702 by David Gregory as part of his Astronomiae elementa. The present work includes Newton's full text with annotations explaining terms and relating the text to Kollerstrom's analysis. In this detailed study, Kollerstrom solves the enigma of Newton's "forgotten" lunar theory. He ascertains, for the first time ever, just what Newton's theory did and did not achieve."--Amazon.

John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude

John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-02-28
Genre:
ISBN: 9781906367992

John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude, in a revised and updated edition, is a fascinating account of the life and achievements of John Harrison, the man who designed and built the first accurate marine chronometers. Inspired by the prize offered in 1714 to provide a solution to the problem of determining longitudinal position at sea, John Harrison - a carpenter by trade - set out to develop portable clocks that would rival even the most precise watches of the time. His famous 'H' timepieces went on to revolutionise sea travel and save many thousands of lives. Now housed in the collection of Royal Observatory Greenwich, they are milestones in clock- making history. Beautifully illustrated with images that showcase the intricate detail and mechanisms of the timepieces,John Harrison and the Quest for Longitudetells the story of one man driven by the need to solve one of the greatest practical problems of his time.

Time and Navigation

Time and Navigation
Author: Andrew Kenneth Johnston
Publisher:
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 1588344916

If you want to know where you are, you need a good clock. The surprising connection between time and placeais explored inaTime and Navigation- The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There, the companion book to the National Air and Space Museum exhibition of the same name. Today we use smartphones and GPS, but navigating has not always been so easy. The oldest "clock" is Earth itself, and the oldest means of keeping time came from observing changes in the sky. Early mariners like the Vikings accomplished amazing feats of navigation without using clocks at all. Pioneering seafarers in the Age of Exploration used dead reckoning and celestial navigation; later innovations such as sextants and marine chronometers honed these techniques by measuring latitude and longitude. When explorers turned their sights to the skies, they built on what had been learned at sea. For example, Charles Lindbergh used a bubble sextant on his record-breaking flights. World War II led to the development of new flight technologies, notably radio navigation, since celestial navigation was not suited for all-weather military operations. These forms of navigation were extended and enhanced when explorers began guiding spacecraft into space and across the solar system. Astronauts combined celestial navigation technology with radio transmissions. The development of the atomic clock revolutionized space flight because it could measure billionths of a second, thereby allowing mission teams to navigate more accurately. Scientists and engineers applied these technologies to navigation on earth to develop space-based time and navigation services such as GPS that is used every day by people from all walks of life. While the history of navigation is one of constant change and innovation, it is also one of remarkable continuity. Time and Navigation tells the story of navigation to help us understand where we have been and how we got there so that we can understand where we are going.

Longitudes and Attitudes

Longitudes and Attitudes
Author: Thomas L. Friedman
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2002-09-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1429916346

America's leading observer of the international scene on the minute-by-minute events of September 11, 2001--before, during and after . As the Foreign Affairs columnist for the The New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman is in a unique position to interpret the world for American readers. Twice a week, Friedman's celebrated commentary provides the most trenchant, pithy,and illuminating perspective in journalism. Longitudes and Attitudes contains the columns Friedman has published about the most momentous news story of our time, as well as a diary of his experiences and reactions during this period of crisis. As the author writes, the book is "not meant to be a comprehensive study of September 11 and all the factors that went into it. Rather, my hope is that it will constitute a 'word album' that captures and preserves the raw, unpolished, emotional and analytical responses that illustrate how I, and others, felt as we tried to grapple with September and its aftermath, as they were unfolding." Readers have repeatedly said that Friedman has expressed the essence of their own feelings, helping them not only by explaining who "they" are, but also by reassuring us about who "we" are. More than any other journalist writing, Friedman gives voice to America's awakening sense of its role in a changed world.

360 Degrees Longitude

360 Degrees Longitude
Author: John Higham
Publisher: Easton Studio Press, LLC
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2012-07-17
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1935212990

Much more than a travel narrative 360 Degrees Longitude: One Family’s Journey Around the World is a glimpse at what it means to be a “global citizen”—a progressively changing view of the world as seen through the eyes of an American family of four. After more than a decade of planning, John Higham and his wife September bid their high-tech jobs and suburban lives good-bye, packed up their home and set out with two children, ages eight and eleven, to travel around the world. In the course of the next 52 weeks they crossed 24 time zones, visited 28 countries and experienced a lifetime of adventures. Making their way across the world, the Highams discovered more than just different foods and cultures; they also learned such diverse things as a Chilean mall isn’t the best place to get your ears pierced, and that elephants appreciate flowers just as much as the next person. But most importantly, they learned about each other, and just how much a family can weather if they do it together. 360 Degrees Longitude employs Google’s wildly popular Google Earth as a compliment to the narrative. Using your computer you can spin the digital globe to join the adventure cycling through Europe, feeling the cold stare of a pride of lions in Africa, and breaking down in the Andes. Packed with photos, video and text, the online Google Earth companion adds a dimension not possible with mere paper and ink. Fly over the terrain of the Inca Trail or drill down to see the majesty of the Swiss Alps—without leaving the comfort of your chair.