Editor november 24, 2011 in books, dava sobel, english, scientific history leave a comment updated. The true story of a lone genius who solved goodreads. Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that the longitude problem was the thorniest scientific dilemma of. Dava sobel is an accomplished writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Financial times a true life thriller, jampacked with political intrigue, international warfare, personal feuds and financial skullduggery. Sobel, a physician, and betty gruber sobel, a chemist. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time.
Join us on the third wednesday of every month for book club. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time, dava sobel writes that the trick for remembering the difference is that the latitude lines, the parallels, really do stay parallel to each other as they girdle the globe in a series of concentric circles that. Actually, the story of how we came to calculate longitude is a tale of intrigue and competition and an unexpected hero by the name of john harrison. For his carpenter father taught john harrison carpentry. Both my parents loved to read, convincing me by their behavior that the best way to hold someones attention was with a book. What john grisham is to the legal thriller, dava sobel has become to a hot new. American science writer dava sobel in 1995 took the reading world unexpectedly by storm, receiving a plethora of awards and acclamation for her pioneering publication that related the story of john harrison 16931776 and his development of a clockwork device that would measure longitude at sea this puzzle had stumped the scientific world for centuries, including such great minds as italy. I first read longitude, by dava sobel, just after i finished high school, and i devoured it in a sitting or two. Her books include longitude, about english clockmaker john harrison, and galileos daughter, about galileos daughter maria celeste, and the glass universe. I finished reading this book while trying to watch star trek the original series at the same time. It was the first nonfiction book, i think, that i really. Sobel has earned great critical recognition for the books longitude.
Longitude from dava sobel is a fascinating account of how a virtually unknown watchmaker named john harrison conquered one of the oldest and thorniest problems surrounding the ocean voyages the problem of accurately measuring longitude, which stumped even the best of scientific minds for centuries. Longitude book douglas county libraries bibliocommons. Dava sobel was born on june 15, 1947 in new york city, new york, usa. Education dava sobel graduated from the bronx high school of science in 1964. Dava sobel, a former new york times science reporter, is the author of longitude walker 1995 and 2005, penguin 1996, galileos daughter walker 1999 and 2011, penguin 2000, the planets viking 2005, penguin 2006, a more perfect heaven walker bloomsbury 2011 and 2012, and the sun stood still bloomsbury, 2016 and the glass universe viking, 2016. My father strode up fifth avenue to rockefeller center with me on his shoulders, and we stopped to stare at the statue of atlas, carrying heaven and earth on his. The greek astronomers could measure latitude as early as the third century b. Daily mail rarely have i enjoyed a book as much as dava sobel s longitude. Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that the longitude problem was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the dayand had been for centuries. The lost pages of longitude by dava sobel financial times. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Longitude book king county library system bibliocommons. Dava sobels the glass universe will be available from viking in december 2016 with her bestsellers longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling narrative. Dava sobel born june 15, 1947 is the author of longitude, galileos daughter, the planets, and most recently a more perfect heaven.
Longitude, a recommended book for our hope on the horizon summer reading challenge, is a classic true tale of persistence rewarded. A historical memoir of science, faith, and love dava sobel. The book has endorsements from patrick obrien and neil armstrong, and a blurb that cheerfully describes the search for longitude as a truelife thriller. Its a time for us to talk about books and enjoy some food. Through lucid prose and a compelling narrative, sobel explains the longitude. Dava sobels book, longitude, isnt some dense excerpt from a history book. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Such facts might merely seem the stuff of trivia games, but dava sobels longitude is an intriguing biography. She described the life of john harrison who discovered how to.
The assignment for harvard magazine morphed into a book project for a new. Former new york times reporter sobel coauthor, arthritis. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. The image of the lone genius, prevailing against the odds to make a better world, is an attractive one. Buy the illustrated longitude reprint by sobel, dava, andrewes, william j. Dava sobel born june 15, 1947, american editor, educator. Describes the fortyyear effort of john harrison to invent the chronometer, the first instrument able to keep accurate time for navigational purposes. With a new foreword by the celebrated astronaut neil armstrong.
In 1714, englands parliament offered a reward to anyone whose method or device for measuring longitude proved successful. Daily mail rarely have i enjoyed a book as much as dava sobels longitude. Longitude was first published in 1996, occupying a substantial portion of many a waterstones table around christmastime. A 1964 graduate of the bronx high school of science, ms. Translator and annotator maria celeste galilei, letters to father. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time is a historical biography by dava sobel. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Read longitude online by dava sobel books free 30day trial. Dava sobel is equal parts poetic and science in her writing and she has a unique gift for intertwining the human stories with their scientific purpose, without missing a beat on the politics. Dava sobel born june 15, 1947 is an american writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Sobels longitude, the story of a littleknown geographical pioneer and a. The science writer says that while researching her new book, the glass universe, she read fiction about the time period, such as the custom of the country and o pioneers.
How the ladies of the harvard observatory took the measure of the stars. How copernicus revolutionised the cosmos dava sobel longitude dava sobel galileos daughter. And now she has produced another book in the genre she helped to establish. First published in 1995 and nominated for the 1997 royal society science book prize, the book tells the story of one scientists lifelong journey to build the perfect chronometer. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time chapter 1. It consists of dava sobels original text, this time swaddled in 178 illustrations intended to supplement sobels prose with. Dava sobel, a former new york times science reporter, is the author of longitude walker 1995 and 2005, penguin 1996, galileos daughter walker 1999 and 2011, penguin 2000, the planets viking 2005, penguin 2006, a more perfect heaven walker bloomsbury 20011 and 2012, and the sun stood still bloomsbury, 2016 and the glass universe viking, 2016. With jeremy irons, anna chancellor, emma kay, samuel west. Longitude does not seem to be a topic that would set the readers interest and imagination racing, but dava sobel manages to make what is a seemingly boring topic into a tale that is gripping, exciting and educational. For the 10th anniversary edition in 2005, astronaut neil armstrong wrote a foreword. November 28, 2011 most of us were born and grew up in the era when electronic items are of daytoday use, especially today when digital space is a huge presence in our professional as well as. With lengthy quotes from personal letters and contemporary records.
My mother was still alive when i wrote longitude, and i wrote it for her. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time by dava sobel. A fascinating problem it was ptolemy in geographia, written in the 2nd. Longitude the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time book. Galileos daughter by dava sobel 23 editions first published in 1999 download daisy.
Sobel attended antioch college and the city college of new york before receiving her bachelor of arts degree from the state university of new york at binghamton in 1969. Galileos daughter is one of the most compelling works of history ive ever had the pleasure of reading. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to datethe planets of our solar system. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time audiobook by dava sobel. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time paperback october 30, 2007. Dava sobels longitude, the true story of a lone genius who solved the. After reading douglas hunters book half moon, of course the next book simply had to. Author dava sobel, however, cuts through all the more complicated principles like a good precalculus teacher. In two parallel stories, the clockmaker john harrison builds the marine chronometer for safe navigation at sea in the 18th century and the horologist rupert gould becomes obsessed with restoring it in the 20th century. Longitude by dava sobel special anniversary edition. The book became a surprise bestseller and is still in print. Even before the publication of longitude twentyfive years ago, i learned about a group of women who worked at the harvard college observatory in the nineteenth century, analyzing images of the stars to fantastic effect these ladies of pickerings harem aroused my curiosity, but i put them off while pursuing galileos daughter, exploring the planets, and turning copernicuss idea.
With her bestsellers longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling narrative. Dava sobel is the bestselling author of longitude, galileos daughter, and the planets, coauthor of the illustrated longitude, and editor of letters to father. Numerous attentive readers took the trouble to write to me to point out typos or other errors in the text, which the publisher then corrected in subsequent editions. Through dava sobels consummate skill, longitude will open a new window on our world for all who pdf read it. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to date. As with her previous two books longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel draws heavily on primary sources for her latest book, a more perfect heaven. For example, the typesetter had inexplicably swapped.
The story of john longitude harrison disproves this. Because sequels and adaptations infest publishing as they do moviemaking, please note that the illustrated longitude is neither. Longitude by dava sobel a true story about john harrison, an 18th century clockmaker who created the first clock sufficiently accurate to b. An analysis of dava sobels writing style in the book. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time is a bestselling book by dava sobel about john harrison, an 18thcentury clockmaker who created the first clock chronometer sufficiently accurate to be used to determine longitude at seaan important development in navigation.
Couldnt get too far that way though, so i now all thats stopping me from watching star trek is writing this blog post and the fact that its past 2 am. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading longitude. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally. Dava sobels account of the struggle to accurately measure longitude.
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