Longitude - The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
by Dava Sobel · Walker And Company, 2026
On the shelf at Tolhuisweg 2, Amsterdam-Noord
This is a reading library, not a mail-order one. Come and read it in our office, and take it home from there if you like. We do not send books by post.
Library hour: Tuesdays 12:00 to 14:00, Tolhuisweg 2, Amsterdam-Noord
No Tuesday works, or coming with a group? Write to act@climatecleanup.org.
In Sven's office: ask for it
Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest. The "longitude problem" was the thorniest dilemma of the eighteenth century. Lacking the ability to measure longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea. 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. Battling against the establishment, Harrison stood alone in pursuit of his solution and the £20,000 reward offered by Parliament.