The Race to Solve the Greatest Navigation Problem of its Time
The greatest navigational problem of the 17th Century was solving the question
of longitude and how to measure time at sea. Dava Sobel's "Longitude:The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time" provides a riveting account of maritime disasters, fortunes and wars lost because of the inability of ships to accurately compute their location. The solution was the invention of the Chronometer
Top Recommendation for October
Just great. This short book tells the suspenseful story of the 17th century competition to invent the chronometer as a critical aid to navigation at sea.
This short book is remarkable in the intensity of its subject matter. A real-life cliffhanger. If your’e in London you absolutely must visit the National Observatory in Greenwich to see the 1st chronometer that was created. It weighed 3000 lbs and stands 4′ tall. The next versions were all smaller by half…Now it’s on everyone’s wrist…