Illustrated Longitude

English

ISBN: 0802713440

EAN: 9780802713445

Category: Antiques & Collectibles / Clocks & Watches/Science / Time/Biography & Autobiography / General/Science / Earth Sciences / Geography/Biography & Autobiography / Science & Technology/

Publisher: Walker & Company

Release Date: 10/01/1998

Synopsis: A fully illustrated edition of the international best-sellerLongitude. The Illustrated Longituderecounts in words and images the epic quest to solve the greatest scientific problem of the eighteenth and three prior centuries: determining how a captain could pinpoint his ships location at sea. All too often throughout the ages of exploration, voyages ended in disaster when crew and cargo were either lost at sea or destroyed upon the rocks of an unexpected landfall. Thousands of lives and the fortunes of nations hung on a resolution to the longitude problem. To encourage a solution, governments established prizes for anyone whose method or device proved successful. The largest reward of 20,000-- truly a kings ransom-- was offered by Britains Parliament in 1714. The scientific establishment-- from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton-- had been certain that a celestial answer would be found and invested untold effort in this pursuit. By contrast, John Harrison imagined and built the unimaginable: a clock that told perfect time at sea, known today as the chronometer. Harrisons trials and tribulations during his forty-year quest to win the prize are the culmination of this remarkable story. The Illustrated Longitudebrings a new and important dimension to Dava Sobels celebrated story. It contains the entire original narrative ofLongitude, redesigned to accompany 183 images chosen by William Andrewes-- from portraints of every important figure in the story to maps and diagrams, scientifc instruments, and John Harrisons remarkable sea clocks themselves. Andrewess elegant captions and sidebars on scientific and historical events tell their own story of longitude, paralleling and illuminating Sobels memorable tale.

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

Illustrated Longitude

Illustrated: Yes

Format: Hardcover

Height: 0.95 inches

Width: 9.0 inches

Length: 10.0 inches

Weight: 16.05 oz

Pages: 224