Ships, Clocks, and Stars (e-book) (used book) | bookbook.eu

Description

A tale of eighteenth century invention and competition, commerce and conflict, this is a lively, illustrated, and accurate chronicle of the search to solve “the longitude problem,” the question of how to determine a ship’s position at sea—and one that changed the history of mankind

The Quest for Longitude brings into focus one of our greatest scientific stories: the search to accurately measure a ship’s position at sea. The incredible, illustrated volume reveals why longitude mattered to seafaring nations, illuminates the various solutions that were proposed and tested, and explores the invention that revolutionized human history and the man behind it, John Harrison. Here, too, are the voyages of Captain Cook that put these revolutionary navigational methods to the test.

Filled with astronomers, inventors, politicians, seamen, and satirists, The Quest for Longitude explores the scientific, political, and commercial battles of the age, as well as the sailors, ships, and voyages that made it legend—from Matthew Flinders and George Vancouver to the voyages of the Bounty and the Beagle.

Timed to coincide with a traveling exhibit from Britain’s National Maritime Museum and featuring more than 150 photographs specially commissioned from it, this evocative, detailed, and thoroughly fascinating history brings this age of exploration and enlightenment vividly to life.