Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

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In 1730, woodworker and self-taught clockmaker John Harrison began to develop the first clock that could keep accurate time at sea.

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Nevertheless, there was always a lack of satisfactory star maps, and the moon's travel route had yet to be found, so people were still unable to accurately determine longitude. He had what one might term an astronomer's bias, which holds that the only solution worthy of the longitude problem could be solved by someone with the elite education of an astronomer, not a country watchmaker. This disaster and huge protest from the merchants and seamen resulted in the formation of a parliamentary committee for finding a practical solution for the longitude problem. Interspersed are stories of the people who live in and around the tiger preserve, information on the ecology of the mangrove swamp, myths and legends, and true life accounts of man-eating tigers. During long voyages, calculating one's distance became nearly impossible to gauge with serious accuracy.Scurvy patients suffer from damaged connective tissues, which leads to weakened blood vessels and abnormal bleeding. The UK issued the Longitude Act in 1714, establishing a huge reward comparable to the “king’s ransom” to encourage people to solve the longitude problem.

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Galileo and others reasoned that sailors could use ephemerides, or tables of celestial events and motions, to find their longitude. The Planets: A discourse on the discovery, science, history and mythology, of the planets in our solar system, with one chapter devoted to each of the celestial spheres.

We have now summarized of the major points of Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. Longitude has been translated into 30 languages, and is hailed by readers as a gem of literature that is much more than just a novel. Sailors thus had a higher chance of getting scurvy if the voyage was prolonged due to the failure of determining longitude. Harrison’s invention proved itself in the hearts and minds of the people who most needed accuracy, and though the astronomers’ lunar method remained useful, it was principally employed to check the accuracy of the timepieces.