In the tercentenary year of the Longitude Act, Fourth Estate present an anniversary edition of Dana Sobel’s bestselling history of an epic scientific quest and the unlikely triumph of an English genius. With an introduction by Neil Armstrong.
Anyone alive in the 18th century would have known that ‘the longitude problem’ was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day – and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of explo...