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

The 10th Anniversary edition of this classic book has now been released with a new foreword by Neil Armstrong.
Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest. At the heart of Dava Sobel's fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation and horology stands the figure of John Harrison, self-taught Yorkshire clockmaker, and his forty-year obsession with building the perfect timekeeper.
`Rarely have I enjoyed a book as much as Dava Sobel's `Longitude'. She has an extraordinary gift of making difficult ideas clear.' Patrick O'Brian, Daily Telegraph
`In this tale, embracing basic astronomy, navigation and the science of clocks, the reader is swept along on the epic voyage of the mind and the globe.' Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, Sunday Times