Some time ago, I found a beautifully kept copy of Dava Sobel's book "Longitude" in my favourite op-shop. I already had a copy in my library and read it more than once, but I picked up this spare one to give to a friend who I thought would be interested in the incredible story of John Harrison.
John Harrison was the man who built the first chronometers which were accurate and rugged enough to make timekeeping – necessary for celestial navigation – possible and literally single-handedly paved the way for modern navigation at sea. Up to that point, seafarers were only able to determine latitude. Longitude had still been a huge problem.
Yesterday I ran into my friend again and asked him how he had liked the book. "Wonderful!" he said, "They ought to make a proper movie about this!" "But they already have!" I told him, "Have a look on Youtube!"
The runtime of the recording is almost three-and-a-half hours. It's in two parts and you can easily take a break, but the story is so gripping that you simply can't just pause and watch the rest a day or so later.
The story has everything: ships, adventure, sailing and excitement, great period costumes, wonderful English accents, and a lot of tough sailor's talk. And you will learn a lot about stellar navigation, clock-making, and English society in the late 18th and early 20th Centuries.
