Longitude book douglas county libraries bibliocommons. I previously read dava sobels nonillustrated edition of longitude and was fascinated by the story she spun so when she teamed up with william andrewes for an ilustrated longitude i knew i was hooked. Longitude book midcontinent public library bibliocommons. Written by dava sobel, this book is about one of the greatest problems that baffled people for centuries. Well researched and refreshingly written, it is a must read book. Her books include longitude, about english clockmaker john harrison, and. Daily mail rarely have i enjoyed a book as much as dava sobel s longitude. This lush, colorfully illustrated edition adds lots of pictures to the story, giving readers a more satisfying sense of the times, the players, and the puzzle.
Longitude the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time book. Longitude tells the lifeanddeath story behind the grid work of lines appearing on every world map and globe. Because sequels and adaptations infest publishing as they do moviemaking, please note that the illustrated longitude is neither. Dava sobel was born on june 15, 1947 in the bronx, new york city, new york, united states. Captain james cook longitude the true story of a lone genius. Had he resisted the urge to build a better clock before claiming the prize, he. 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. And dava sobels writing brings scientific discovery thrillingly to life. Her past books include longitude, galileos daughter, and the planets. In the 1870s, before women had the right to vote or a firm standing in the workplace, a lucky few found employment at the harvard college observatory. The true story of a lone genius who solved the great scientific problem of. Readers with only the most cursory of interest in the night sky will find themselves beguiled by sobels prose and invigorated by this longoverlooked. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time, dava sobel writes that the trick for.
Longitude, by american writer dava sobel, is the true story of the quest to devise a reliable navigational instrument for sailors. Her books include longitude, about english clockmaker john harrison, and galileos daughter, about galileos daughter maria celeste, and the glass universe. Dava sobel author of longitude goodreads share book. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. The bestknown account of harrison and his sea clocks is undoubtedly still dava sobels 1995 book, longitude. Sobel continues her streak of luminous science writing with this fascinating, witty, and most elegant history of the women who worked in critical positions at the harvard observatory. Astronomer dava sobel on why the 2017 eclipse was the perfect time to pay tribute to the heroine of her new book.
Books by dava sobel featured in the 1870s, before women had the right to vote or a firm standing in the workplace, a lucky few found employment at the harvard college observatory. I greatly enjoy the more indepth research required for booklength projects. The illustrated version is a must for collectors, connoisseurs and historians alike. Dava sobel books, author biography, and reading level.
Dava sobel is the bestselling author of longitude, galileos daughter, and the. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been. Dava sobel born june 15, 1947, american editor, educator. Her first book was longitude, about the race to devise a system for determining positions at sea. Dava sobel a former science reporter for the new york times, she became a publishing supernova in 1995 with the publication of her page. She is also an awardwinning former science reporter for the new york times and writes frequently about science for several magazines, including the new yorker, audubon, discover, life and omni. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 192 pages and is available in hardcover format. Daily mail rarely have i enjoyed a book as much as dava sobels longitude.
Dava sobels longitude is the story of harrisons obsession and his epic. Former new york times reporter sobel coauthor, arthritis. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time 10th anniversary ed by sobel, dava isbn. Nov 17, 2011 dava sobel has written a gem of a book.
The book has been adapted into a tv series, won the british book of the year in 1997, as well as many other awards. Nov 11, 2005 dava sobel has written a gem of a bookone of the best reads for the nonscientific writing to come along for many a moon. Jul 05, 2010 the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of one mans fortyyear obsession to find a solution to the thorniest scientific dilemma of the daythe longitude problem. Longitude book hennepin county library bibliocommons. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. This short book, published in 1995, reads like a novel. It reminds us all that technology which we take for granted in the last 30 years was not always available. Dava sobel is currently considered a single author.
The book was meticulously designed, with what sobel calls a gorgeous cover it looked like a knopf book and went out in 1995 with a first printing of 10,000. The premise of using a clock to compute longitude is mentioned repeatedly through the first half of the book, but. In 2001, sobel received the individual public service award. Dava sobels book will delight ccsu members with the history of john harrisons fortyyear quest for the coveted prize. Sobel, a physician, and betty gruber sobel, a chemist. I first read longitude, by dava sobel, just after i finished high school, and i devoured it in a sitting or two. Sep 28, 2016 longitude, written by dava sobel, tells the story of john harrison, an inventor of the highest magnitude who spent over 40 years feverishly devoted to solving the greatest scientific problem of his time. Longitude by dava sobel is a bestselling novel 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. Dava sobel is the internationally renowned author of the bestselling longitude winner of the 1997 british book of the year award galileos daughter and the planets. Roughly onequarter of the many letters i received after the publication of longitude. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally.
Longitude book whitby public library bibliocommons. Her books include longitude, about english clockmaker john harrison, and galileos daughter, about galileo s daughter maria celeste, and the glass universe. Dava sobel talks about women who worked for the harvard college observatory, studying glass photographs of the stars. Dava sobel is the author of longitude, galileos daughter, the planets, and a more perfect heaven. The book was made into a television series entitled longitude. 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. Longitude by dava sobel background on author dava sobel was born june 15, 1947 in bronx, ny.
Dava sobel is the author of five books, including the new york times bestsellers longitude, galileos daughter, the planets, and the glass universe. The people who strove to understand longitude were amazing pioneers, and this book explains why. Interested in astronomy since childhood, she renewed and strengthened her interest under the influence of carl sagan, whom she first interviewed in 1972. The illustrated longitude by dava sobel, william j. The publication of longitude in 1995 and its unexpected success transformed me into a fulltime author of books. Dava sobel talked about her book, the glass universe. I would even suggest this book could appeal to adventurous 8th graders. In the early days of sail, mariners had no accurate means of determining their position at sea. Its like writing one college term paper after another. Longitude by dava sobel special anniversary edition.
On its 10th anniversary, a gift edition of this classic book, with a forward by one of historys greatest explorers, and eight pages of color illustrations. After reading a book about mason and dixon and all of the incredibly for me complex math and astronomy involved, i was slow to begin this book. The extraordinary success of the book by dava sobel has. 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. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Im delighted to report that the glass universe will soon be published in a chineselanguage edition, and the translator is my friend xiao mingbo, whom i met more than ten years ago, when he translated longitude at the start of our working relationship, i thought mingbo was a woman, and he assumed i.
The book itself won the 1997 british book of the year award. The greek astronomers could measure latitude as early as the third century b. I finished reading this book while trying to watch star trek the original series at the same time. The board of longitude, which would be primarily comprised of astronomers, was set up to award the money. Dava sobel born june 15, 1947 is an american writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Solved the longitude problem invented the chronometer lunar distance method cook returned from his second voyage with bouquets of praise for the method of finding longitude by means of a timekeeper. 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. Sobel presents the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of john harrisons 40year obsession with building the perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Anyone alive in the eighteeth century would have known that the logitude problem was the thorniest scientific dilemma. Longitude book the seattle public library bibliocommons. They developed a system to classify and measure stars that is still in use today. Dava sobel has written a gem of a bookone of the best reads for the nonscientific writing to come along for many a moon. The science writer says that while researching her new book, the glass universe, she read fiction. She is the main character in sobels most recent book, the glass universe.
The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time kindle edition by sobel, dava. Dava sobel is a former new york times science reporter and a repeated new york times bestselling author. 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. Longitude book san francisco public library bibliocommons.
The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time pdf epub book. It consists of dava sobel s original text, this time swaddled in 178 illustrations intended to supplement sobel s prose with the texture of a bygone era sumptuous. Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that the longitude problem was the. Dava sobel was born on june 15, 1947 in new york city, new york, usa. 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. How the ladies of the harvard observatory took the measure of the stars. Faced with the real prospect of parting with their major award, they needed to know that the longitude problem really had been. Anyone 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. Dava sobel s longitude tells the story of how 18thcentury scientist and clockmaker william harrison solved one of the most perplexing problems of historydetermining eastwest location at sea. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read longitude. Financial times a true life thriller, jampacked with political intrigue, international warfare, personal feuds and financial skullduggery. She is considered an expert in her field because graduated from the bronx high school of science and binghamton university.
Education dava sobel graduated from the bronx high school of science in 1964. This lush, colorfully illustrated edition adds lots of pictures to the story, giving readers a more satisfying sense of the times, the players, and the. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading longitude. Presentation by sobel on the glass universe, january 19, 2017, cspan. Oct 19, 1995 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. Centuries ago, sailors were unable to navigate the seas with the ease and effectiveness as todays people. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. A former new york times science reporter and longtime contributor to the new yorker, audubon, discover, and harvard magazine, she is the recipient of the national science boards individual public service award and the boston museum. Dava sobels longitude is the story of one of the worlds earliest successful public challenges the use of open innovation to solve a difficult problem of great importance to the maritime community.
If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. This book should be required reading for all schools. Author dava sobel, however, cuts through all the more complicated principles like a good precalculus teacher. It consists of dava sobels original text, this time swaddled in 178 illustrations intended to supplement sobels prose with. Mar 20, 2017 dava sobel is a former new york times science reporter and a repeated new york times bestselling author. Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the kindle edition of this book. Indeed, the entire age of exploration was carried out without anyones ever knowing where he was. How the ladies of the harvard observatory took the measure of the stars, about women who worked for the harvard college observatory, studying.