A good ol' history read! This was a fascinating look into the battle over lunar distances and timepiece development in the darker ages of navigation at sea! It was a clear, well-researched, well-presented book about the hunt for an accurate tool for determining longitude. ( )

This is the best kind of history and the best kind of science writing. It tells us readers about about people, history, technology, and all the other contexts we need to understand how navigators got the tools they needed to know where in the great oceans they were. ( )

While the story itself is an engaging one, I found the book overall to be a disappointment. The explanations of the astronomical methods for finding longitude and the workings of a watch were not detailed enough to provide a full understanding for those of us without any prior knowledge of the two subjects. I came away with a rough idea of both, but I certainly could not explain either one of them to somebody else. I would have appreciated a few diagrams and/or photographs of the instruments.

I also found the narrative to be repetitive and the tone uneven. The author would introduce one of the characters and then a chapter or two later, mention them again as though it was their first appearance in the story. There also were a number of cliches and the individuals are not clearly differentiated.

I'm not certain I am interested enough in the topic to try again, but I see there are several more recent books that have been published on the quest to find an accurate way to measure longitude and I would recommend you look at some of those books before deciding which to read. I think you can do better than this version of the story. ( )

Non-fiction about the quest to develop a reliable method for measuring longitude. The first several chapters describe the difficulties encountered by ships attempting to navigate solely based on latitude. The focus then shifts to a biography of John Harrison, the 18th century clockmaker who attempted to solve this problem based on timekeeping. It also describes his primary competitor and adversary, Nevil Maskelyne, who was keen on proving that the best approach involved astronomical readings. They and many others vied for the monetary prize offered by the British government. Along the way, the author highlights some of the more outlandish ideas, one of which involves barking dogs!

The book is far more than a scientific analysis of the problem of finding longitude. It portrays the intrigue, rivalries, conflicts, and accidental discoveries that make this book a fascinating reading experience. It is a story of the triumph of a perfectionistic genius of humble origins over the well-educated experts of the day. Recommended to those who, like me, enjoy stories related to travel by sea, voyages of exploration and discovery, and maritime adventures in days of yore.
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Incredible story but there's something about Dava Sobel's writing that takes a while to adjust to. Otherwise, highly recommend. ( )