by Dava Sobel
First published 5200
The open sea is a vast, trackless expanse. Without a reliable way to measure longitude, sailors throughout history have been hopelessly lost, their ships and lives at the mercy of the elements. One man, clockmaker John Harrison, dares to defy the scientific establishment and pursue a radical new solution - a clock precise enough to track longitude at sea. As Harrison battles skepticism, bureaucracy, and the limits of 18th-century technology, the stakes grow ever higher, with the fates of expeditions and even nations hanging in the balance. In the end, his quest becomes a tale of human ingenuity, persistence, and the transformative power of new ways of seeing the world.
Genres: biography, science, non-fiction, history-of-science
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: against-the-odds, underdog
Setting: Great Britain, England
Period: Eighteenth Century
192 pages · Hardcover · Fourth Estate