01632cam a2200229 4500 121330388 TxAuBib 20120918120000.0 030602s1995||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 9780140258790 0140258795 GACCL eng GACCL OCLCQ VUE OCLCQ CNWLU OCLCO ZPK TxAuBib Sobel, Dava. Longitude [TP] : the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. New York, NY : Penguin Books, 1995. viii, 184 p. ; 18 cm. 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. The scientific establishment of Europe--from Galileo to Sir Issac Newton--had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain 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. Longitude is a dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and 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. 20120918. Harrison, John 1693-1776. Longitude Measurement History. Clock and watchmakers Great Britain Biography.