Longitude
$19.95
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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. Finally, in 1714, Parliament offered a king's ransom to anyone whose method or device proved successful.
Longitude
$19.95
Unit price
$19.95 each
Longtitude is the dramatic story of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, brilliance and the absurd, it is a fascinating best-selling brief history of astronomy, navigation and clockmaking.