Conference bookie::books

1698.0. "LONGITUDE" by NEWVAX::BUCHMAN (Rosalie's Uncle) Tue Feb 25 1997 10:31

    This excellent book describes the search for an answer to one of the
    most pressing problems in the era of exploration, 1500 - early 1800s:
    how to accurately determine your longitude at sea. Latitude could be
    determined by accurate astronomical observations; but for longitude,
    you needed also to have know the current time with great precision and
    minimal slippage over months or years. The two competing methods were:
    
    - use the stars/planets/moon, plus a table of their predicted positions
    at precise times;
    - build a really accurate clock.
    
    The book in particular details the efforts of John Harrison (~1695 -
    1778) to conquer this problem using the latter approach. He was a
    carpenter's apprentice with no clockmaking expertise, who taught
    himself how to make extremely accurate clocks  which needed no
    lubrication, and whose internal parts were so constructed as to
    compensate automatically for deviations due to temperature changes. It
    also describes his rivalry with the astronomers, who regarded him as a
    tinkerer, and his long struggle against that rivalry and politics to
    claim the large monetary prize set up by the Parliment's Longitude Act.
    It's a very interesting story, particularly to fans of books about the
    great wooden ships of the 1700's - 1800's.
    
    btw, I was all set up to be very sympathetic to Harrison as a small man
    with a brilliant idea pitted against the entrenched beurocracy; and he
    was callously treated by many of them in the latter part of his quest.
    But many of his early problems were due to the familiar bullheadedness
    of engineers -- when everyone else was clamoring for his product, *he*
    was not satisfied with it. :-)
    
    By all means, read it -- only about 150 pages.
    				Jim Buchman

    
    BTW, the author is Dava Sobel.  The book was recently published in
    paperback.  Definitely a fascinating story, though I have heard
    criticism (without elaboration) that it's a little loose with the truth
    sometime.
    
    len.