000			02106nam a2200277 a 4500
003			MaObMVR
005			20201110060542.0
008			950419s1995 nyu b 000 0beng
010			_a 95017402
020			_a0140258795 (pbk.) : _c$10.95
035			_a315810
035			_aADN-0763
040			_c0000
100	1		_aSobel, Dava. _927240
245	1	0	_aLongitude : _bthe true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time / _cDava Sobel.
260			_aNew York : _bPenguin Books, _cc1995.
300			_a184 p. ; _c19 cm.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 177-180) and index.
505	0		_aImaginary lines -- The sea before time -- Adrift in a clockwork universe -- Time in a bottle -- Powder of sympathy -- The prise -- Cogmaker's journal -- The grasshopper goes to sea -- Hands on heaven's clock -- The diamond timekeeper -- Trial by fire and water -- A tale of two portraits -- The second voyage of Captain James Cook -- The mass production of genius -- In the meridian courtyard.
520			_aAnyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--and had been for centuries. The scientific establishment of Europe--from Galileo to Sir Issac Newton--had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is a dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.
600	1	0	_aHarrison, John, _d1693-1776. _927241
650		0	_aLongitude _xMeasurement _xHistory. _927242
650		0	_aClock and watch makers _zGreat Britain _vBiography. _927243
942			_2ddc _cBK
999			_c109828 _d109828