Longitude

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time is written by Dava Sobel. The book is called Longitude because it is about a clock maker who was able to determine longitude. Determining longitude was the superlative scientific question in the eighteenth century that Galileo and Newton were not able to resolve. The principal inspiration behind the invention completed in this book is that many sailors were …

…of the clock was affected by weather, humidity, temperature, etc… For example, if the temperature was hot the metal expands and if the temperature is cold the metal shrinks. On the other hand, the chronometer was glass protected and vacuum-sealed which made the device invulnerable to temperature. In conclusion, the problem of determining longitude was solved after forty years. As I have mention before, John Harrison was awarded the longitude prized for his five inventions.