His error was rooted in a puzzle of navigation, centuries old, which prompted a desperate British government to issue a challenge to the scientific community. The Scilly Isles with substantial loss of life. When, in October 1707, the British admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell misjudged longitude, the majority of his fleet sank off the coast of As Dava Sobel describes so well, in the 18th Century, loss of orientation was both common and potentially fatal. In a culture where we are used to navigating not only the sea, but also air and space, the importance of calculating exact co-ordinates is a given. Haven't read it: it deserved the hype over a decade ago, and still does today. For those who, like me, find a hard sell somewhat off-putting, I would recommend revisiting this book if you The book has endorsements from Patrick O'Brien and Neil Armstrong, and a blurb that cheerfully describes the search for longitude as a "true-life thriller". Longitude was first published in 1996, occupying a substantial portion of many a Waterstones table around Christmas-time. Longitude: The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time by Dava Sobel
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