Longitude
by Dava Sobel
★ Top 25 book of 1995 · #19 on Best Books of 1995
Dava Sobel tells how John Harrison spent forty years defying the scientific establishment to build a clock that kept accurate time at sea. His quest to solve the longitude problem blends heroism, trickery and a short history of navigation.
Best for: Readers who love true stories of invention, obsession, astronomy and seafaring
Longitude is #19 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar.
What Longitude is about
For centuries, sailors who lost sight of land had no way to measure longitude, and thousands of lives and national fortunes depended on finding one. Dava Sobel tells how that problem, the thorniest scientific puzzle of the eighteenth century, was finally solved by John Harrison, a clockmaker who went against the scientific establishment. Where others looked to the heavens, he imagined a clock that could keep precise time at sea, and he spent forty years obsessively building it. Along the way the account becomes a short history of astronomy, navigation and clockmaking, full of heroism and chicanery. It will appeal to anyone who likes a true story of stubborn invention.
Longitude on the Best Books of 1995
Longitude came out in 1995. Of the 28 books first published in 1995 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #19 on our Best Books of 1995 list.
Why it made the list: 183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (35 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 1995 list
- Fingerprints of the Gods Graham Hancock, #17
- The Firework-maker's Daughter Philip Pullman, #18
- Naked in Death Nora Roberts, #20
- Double Act Jacqueline Wilson, #21
See all Best Books of 1995 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1994 Best Books of 1996.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 132 want to read it, 4 are reading it now and 47 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.2 out of 5 from 35 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 25 | 55% |
| Reader love | 93 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 7 | 20% |
Questions about Longitude
When was Longitude published?
Longitude by Dava Sobel was first published in 1995.
Was Longitude one of the best books of 1995?
Longitude is #19 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar. 183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (35 ratings).
Why is Longitude on the Best Books of 1995 list?
183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (35 ratings).
More of the best books of 1995
- The Lost World Michael Crichton, #1
- Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman, #2
- Northern Lights Philip Pullman, #3
- Mindhunter John E. Douglas, #4
- Rose Madder Stephen King, #5
- Wicked Gregory Maguire, #6
See the full Best Books of 1995, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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