Sobel: The Illustrated Longitude - Revision history

BNEditor at 01:31, 15 April 2009

BNEditor — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:31:21 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:31, 15 April 2009
Line 13:		Line 13:

	[[Category: Book Notes]]		[[Category: Book Notes]]
		+	[[Category: JNS]]

JNShaumeyer at 02:49, 3 November 2007

JNShaumeyer — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 02:49:11 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:49, 3 November 2007
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{BNR-table\|scienticity=2\|readability=5\|hermeneutics=3\|charisma=5\|recommendation=4}}		{{BNR-table\|scienticity=2\|readability=5\|hermeneutics=3\|charisma=5\|recommendation=4}}
-	Dava Sobel and William J. H. Andrewes. ''The Illustrated Longitude''. New York : Walker and Company, 1998. 216 pages; copiously illustrated.	+	Dava Sobel and William J. H. Andrewes, ''The Illustrated Longitude''. New York : Walker and Company, 1998. 216 pages; copiously illustrated.

	The seventeenth- and eighteenth-century race to solve "the longitude problem" -- how to determine a ship's longitude at sea with sufficient precision, to within half a degree or two minutes of time -- was a high-stakes and no-holds-barred competition between those who favored an astronomical solution and those convinced that improvements in timekeeping would save the day. King Charles II founded the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1675, hoping it would solve the problem. In 1714 the British Government offered a prize of £20,000 for a solution. While treasure ships foundered at sea, political and scientific intrigue abounded on land.		The seventeenth- and eighteenth-century race to solve "the longitude problem" -- how to determine a ship's longitude at sea with sufficient precision, to within half a degree or two minutes of time -- was a high-stakes and no-holds-barred competition between those who favored an astronomical solution and those convinced that improvements in timekeeping would save the day. King Charles II founded the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1675, hoping it would solve the problem. In 1714 the British Government offered a prize of £20,000 for a solution. While treasure ships foundered at sea, political and scientific intrigue abounded on land.

JNShaumeyer at 20:18, 3 August 2006

JNShaumeyer — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:18:49 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:18, 3 August 2006
Line 8:		Line 8:
	Dava Sobel has chosen to tell the history of solving the Longitude Problem as the heroic struggle of a lone inventor -- Harrison -- against a system stacked against him. There's much more to the story than that, but it's a valid viewpoint and she makes it into a romantic and visionary tale without distorting the facts. I gave her low marks for "scienticity" not because of inaccuracies, but because she missed so many opportunities to provide a deeper scientific understanding that a few words would have provided.		Dava Sobel has chosen to tell the history of solving the Longitude Problem as the heroic struggle of a lone inventor -- Harrison -- against a system stacked against him. There's much more to the story than that, but it's a valid viewpoint and she makes it into a romantic and visionary tale without distorting the facts. I gave her low marks for "scienticity" not because of inaccuracies, but because she missed so many opportunities to provide a deeper scientific understanding that a few words would have provided.

-	It is ~~woth~~ reading and highly readable, and the only single reference on the subject. I read a large-format edition to which co-author William Andrewes had added copious illustrations; earlier editions contained the text only, and are still available under the title ''Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.'' The illustrations in this edition avoided being merely gratuitous; along with their captions, they added a significant additional thread of storytelling to the text.	+	It is worth reading and highly readable, and the only single reference on the subject. I read a large-format edition to which co-author William Andrewes had added copious illustrations; earlier editions contained the text only, and are still available under the title ''Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.'' The illustrations in this edition avoided being merely gratuitous; along with their captions, they added a significant additional thread of storytelling to the text.

	{{Notesby\|JNS}}		{{Notesby\|JNS}}

	[[Category: Book Notes]]		[[Category: Book Notes]]

JNShaumeyer at 18:06, 3 August 2006

JNShaumeyer — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:06:01 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:06, 3 August 2006
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	~~{{Incomplete}}~~
	{{BNR-table\|scienticity=2\|readability=5\|hermeneutics=3\|charisma=5\|recommendation=4}}		{{BNR-table\|scienticity=2\|readability=5\|hermeneutics=3\|charisma=5\|recommendation=4}}
-	Dava Sobel and William J. H. Andrewes. ''The Illustrated Longitude''. New York : Walker and Company, 1998. 216 pages; illustrated.	+	Dava Sobel and William J. H. Andrewes. ''The Illustrated Longitude''. New York : Walker and Company, 1998. 216 pages; copiously illustrated.
		+
		+	The seventeenth- and eighteenth-century race to solve "the longitude problem" -- how to determine a ship's longitude at sea with sufficient precision, to within half a degree or two minutes of time -- was a high-stakes and no-holds-barred competition between those who favored an astronomical solution and those convinced that improvements in timekeeping would save the day. King Charles II founded the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1675, hoping it would solve the problem. In 1714 the British Government offered a prize of £20,000 for a solution. While treasure ships foundered at sea, political and scientific intrigue abounded on land.
		+
		+	The problem was finally conquered by John Harrison, who made unprecedented improvements in the precision and robustness of mechanical clocks, spending most of his life in dogged determination to do so. In the end, he won the race but was cheated of the prize.
		+
		+	Dava Sobel has chosen to tell the history of solving the Longitude Problem as the heroic struggle of a lone inventor -- Harrison -- against a system stacked against him. There's much more to the story than that, but it's a valid viewpoint and she makes it into a romantic and visionary tale without distorting the facts. I gave her low marks for "scienticity" not because of inaccuracies, but because she missed so many opportunities to provide a deeper scientific understanding that a few words would have provided.
		+
		+	It is woth reading and highly readable, and the only single reference on the subject. I read a large-format edition to which co-author William Andrewes had added copious illustrations; earlier editions contained the text only, and are still available under the title ''Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.'' The illustrations in this edition avoided being merely gratuitous; along with their captions, they added a significant additional thread of storytelling to the text.
		+
		+	{{Notesby\|JNS}}

	[[Category: Book Notes]]		[[Category: Book Notes]]

JNShaumeyer at 21:23, 8 June 2006

JNShaumeyer — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 21:23:09 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:23, 8 June 2006
Line 1:		Line 1:
		+	{{Incomplete}}
	{{BNR-table\|scienticity=2\|readability=5\|hermeneutics=3\|charisma=5\|recommendation=4}}		{{BNR-table\|scienticity=2\|readability=5\|hermeneutics=3\|charisma=5\|recommendation=4}}
	Dava Sobel and William J. H. Andrewes. ''The Illustrated Longitude''. New York : Walker and Company, 1998. 216 pages; illustrated.		Dava Sobel and William J. H. Andrewes. ''The Illustrated Longitude''. New York : Walker and Company, 1998. 216 pages; illustrated.

	[[Category: Book Notes]]		[[Category: Book Notes]]

JNShaumeyer at 17:05, 8 June 2006

JNShaumeyer — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 17:05:02 GMT

New page

{{BNR-table|scienticity=2|readability=5|hermeneutics=3|charisma=5|recommendation=4}}
Dava Sobel and William J. H. Andrewes. ''The Illustrated Longitude''. New York : Walker and Company, 1998. 216 pages; illustrated.

[[Category: Book Notes]]