Dava Sobel

A former New York Times science reporter, and the author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, and Letters to Father.

Dava Sobel is the bestselling author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, The Planets, co-author of The Illustrated Longitude, and editor of Letters to Father. She lives in East Hampton, New York.

PhilosophersNotes on Dava Sobel's Books All PhilosophersNotes

Longitude

The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

by Dava Sobel

This book is “The True Story” of how, as per the sub-title, “a Lone Genius Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.” (<- The “Longitude” problem!) It’s a wonderfully written book by Dava Sobel, who combines her background in both astronomy and psychology to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the science and history of time, longitude, and seafaring all wrapped up in one epic heroic quest. If you’re looking for a fun, quick-reading, mind-expanding escape from the normal self-development literature, I think you’ll enjoy this hero-tale as much as I did. Big Ideas we explore include: clocks and watches (and SUNDIALS!), time (as measured in heartbeats), longitude (vs. latitude), strengths (and weaknesses), encouraging a hero (how will you do so Today?!), Rome wasn’t built in a day (neither was anything awesome), elegant solutions (and the scientific establishment).