LEADER 00000cam a22007697a 4500
001 dr8kl8z6bhh9cgd0
008 210330s2007 xxuac|||||||||001 0beng|c
020 9780802715296|q(pbk.)
041 eng
082 04 526.62
084 Lz Harrison, John|2kssb/8
092 0 520 Harrison|bengelska
100 1 Sobel, Dava
245 10 Longitude :|bthe true story of a lone genius who solved
the greatest scientific problem of his time /|cDava Sobel
; with a foreword by Neil Armstrong
264 1 New York :|bWalker,|c[2007]
300 xiv, 184 pages|bcolor illustrations, portraits|c19 cm
336 text|btxt|2rdacontent
337 unmediated|bn|2rdamedia
338 volume|bnc|2rdacarrier
504 Includes bibliographical references and index
520 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. The quest for a solution had occupied
scientists for the better part of two centuries when, in
1714, England's parliament upped the ante by offering a
king's ransom (£20,000, or approximately $12 million in
today's currency) to anyone whose method or device proved
successful and reproducible. The scientific establishment
throughout Europe -- from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton --
had mapped the heavens in it pursuit of a celestial
answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, 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"--Page 2 of cover
600 10 Harrison, John,|d1693-1776
650 0 Horology
650 0 Clock and watch makers|zEngland|vBiography
650 0 Astronomical clocks|zEngland|xHistory
650 0 Longitude|xResearch|xHistory
650 7 Astronomiska ur|2sao
650 7 Urmakare|2sao
650 7 Tidmätning|2sao
650 7 Longitudinella undersökningar|2sao
651 7 Storbritannien|zEngland|2sao
655 7 Biografier|2saogf
655 7 Biographies.|2lcgft
