Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time - Brossura

Sobel, Dava

Brossura

ISBN 10: 080271529X ISBN 13: 9780802715296

Casa editrice: Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA, 2007

Riassunto

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.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Dava Sobel is the bestselling author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, and The Planets, coauthor of The Illustrated Longitude, and editor of Letters to Father. She lives in East Hampton, New York.

Product Description:

Book by Sobel Dava

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• ISBN 10: 080271529X
• ISBN 13: 9780802715296
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 184