Longitude [Kindle Edition] Author: Dava Sobel | Language: English | ISBN:
B003WUYE66 | Format: PDF, EPUB
Longitude Free PDF
Download for free books Longitude Free PDF from with Mediafire Link Download Link 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. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of nations, hung on a resolution. The scientific establishment of Europe-from Galileo to Sir Isaac 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 the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest, and of 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. Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation Longitude [Kindle Edition] Free PDF
- File Size: 289 KB
- Print Length: 191 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0802799671
- Publisher: Walker Books (July 5, 2010)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B003WUYE66
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,177 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #19
in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Reference > Patents & Inventions - #25
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Transportation - #58
in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Scientists
- #19
in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Reference > Patents & Inventions - #25
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Transportation - #58
in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Scientists
So as not to repeat myself and try the patience of those customers who have already read "Longitude", I will confine my comments to the additional material in the illustrated version. If you haven't read "Longitude", it's a great little book, and I refer you to reviews by myself and others on that book's page.
"The Illustrated Longitude" contains the entire original text of Dava Sobel's book, "Longitude", along with 178 illustrations provided by William J. H. Andrewes. Mr. Andrewes hosted the Longitude Symposium that inspired Dava Sobel's book and has himself published the annotated proceedings of the Symposium in his book entitled "The Quest for Longitude". The illustrations in this book consist of portraits of people and photographs of documents and instruments which are referenced in the text. The documents include maps, journals, pages of books, and official decrees. Nearly every major player in the Longitude drama is represented with at least one portrait. Most fascinating are the photographs of the time pieces, themselves. I found the illustrations to be only mildly interesting until I got to the discussion of John Harrison's longitude clocks. At this point, I was astonished to see how grand and beautiful H-1 was...and still is, and how small and elegant H-4 is in contrast. I found it difficult to picture Harrison's clocks while reading Dava Sobel's book, and the ability to see them in this illustrated version has left me even more impressed with Mr. Harrison's work. All of Harrison's clocks are represented with large color photographs, and many of the later copies of his works by Larcum Kendall, Thomas Mudge, John Arnold, and Thomas Earnshaw are also pictured.
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