Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

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The (true) story is great: legendary historical figures like Isaac Newton, Galileo, James Cook, King George III; scientific conundrums; innovative engineering; a ransom of millions at stake; and a humble, lone man competing against oppressive and manipulative big-wigs. A relatively more reliable approach was the magnetic compass positioning method. The magnetic compass invented in the 12th century had become standard equipment on every ship by this time. It was easy to use, and it allowed navigators to tell the latitude based on the relative position of the North Pole and the North Star. Its fatal disadvantage was that it was neither complete nor accurate enough, and it would fluctuate to some extent. The compass needle did not exactly point to true north at all times, so it was difficult to make accurate measurements. Another interesting approach was put forward by two mathematicians, which was to build beacon towers on the sea. The operation called for the dispatch of a modern type of fleet, whose vessels were then anchored at 600-mile intervals at known latitude and longitude points on the sea. These vessels were set to fire cannons and signal missiles at specific times for navigators to determine their locations according to the thunder and flash signals. Without longitudinal calculations, many ships became lost. During long voyages, calculating one's distance became nearly impossible to gauge with serious accuracy. Discovering the "secret of the longitude" was therefore a great goal for any ship's captain and for any country with business, military or commercial, on the high seas. The British legislature set up a Board of Longitude which had the authority to offer an award to anyone who could solve the problem. The book is about John Harrison's long, bedeviled question to built an incredibly accurate time-piece that could resist the vagaries of the sea. As food stores ran low, the crew would be put on rations to extend the time with food. This was referred to as giving the crew short rations, short allowance or petty warrant.

Longitude — The Glass Universe

LONGITUDE, THE TRUE STORY OF A LONE GENIUS WHO SOLVED THE GREATEST SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM OF HIS TIME, by Dava Sobel (1995; Walker & Company, 2007) The prizes were to be awarded to the first person to demonstrate a practical method for determining the longitude of a ship at sea. Each prize, in increasing amounts, was for solutions of increasing accuracy. These prizes, worth millions of dollars in today's currency, motivated many to search for a solution.Obviously, this operation required an outrageous number of vessels, crew and budget. This approach no doubt was met with strong criticism. Indeed, echoes of the great rivalries across the ages surface in Longitude, reminding us that science is never as simple nor as objective as we like to think. Invention is partly innovation, partly inspiration, and part imitation. Sobel is careful to stress that Maskelyne was not the villain in this piece, merely the antagonist—like the feud between Newton and Hooke, the feud between Harrison and Maskelyne was a dispute between two men who knew their stuff. But where ego is concerned and establishing primacy is often necessary for the money and prestige that follows a discovery, tempers will flare and harsh words will be exchanged. Sobel states she is a chaser of solar eclipses and that "it's the closest thing to witnessing a miracle". As of August 2012 she had seen eight, and planned to see the November 2012 total solar eclipse in Australia. [7] Publications [ edit ] External video Hay que pensar en la longitud como un elemento asociado al tiempo. Si tenemos en cuenta que circunvalar la Tierra supone 360º, que se dividen en 24 meridianos de longitud, obtenemos una separación entre ellos de 15º, calculándose cada grado en minutos. Por lo tanto es fundamental saber en todo momento el tiempo real tanto en el barco como en el lugar desde el que se ha partido o el de destino. Parece simple, con un simple reloj arreglado. Pero no es tan fácil como parece, porque la temperatura y la presión atmosférica afectan mucho la maquinaria de los relojes, adelantándolos o retrasándolos o simplemente parándolos. El capitán pensaba que estaba a X minutos de su destino y se encontraba con que el tiempo pasaba y no arribaban a lugar alguno. Y aquí entraban en juego los partidarios de los relojes y los que preferían guiarse por el mapa estelar, mirando el cielo. The history of this procedure plays an important part in the plot of Umberto Eco's new novel, ''The Island of the Day Before.'')

Dava Sobel - Wikipedia

A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos. Bloomsbury Publishing. October 4, 2011. ISBN 978-0-8027-7893-2. OCLC 819387028 [9] The inability to solve the longitude problem for so long also had dire consequences. If a ship didn't know how far to the east or west it had traveled, then it didn't know where land was likely to be, and the unexpected contiguity of land hadthe globe'' in a series of concentric circles that are smaller the farther they are from the equator.