Daniel Mullins
Dr. Chakars
His 154
23 April 2018
Book Review: Longitude by Dava Sobel
Longitude is a nonfiction book written by Dava Sobel. As the title of the book suggests, the main focus of this book is on the problem of longitude. Prior to the 18th century, world travelers and navigators were not able to determine their longitude at sea. This was a huge problem for shipmen at the time and caused many ships to be lost at sea as well as many shipwrecks. The problem of not being able to calculate longitude was so persistent that it caused England to introduce legislation which included a monetary reward for the person who could solve the longitude problem. Longitude provides a historical account of John Harrison, a clockmaker, and his journey
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She mentions the story of Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell who was an English captain who was involved in a famous shipwreck that was attributed to miscalculation of longitude. According to Sobel, this shipwreck was the major contributor in the passing of the Longitude Act of 1714 in Britain. This legislation appointed a board of well- educated scientists and other individuals to find a solution to the longitude problem. Seeking the large monetary reward, many scientists attempted to come up with a consistent way to calculate longitude. From here, Sobel provides us with the many different proposed ideas, some being very far-fetched. The famous astronomer Galileo proposed a method of calculating longitude using the “eclipses of the moons of Jupiter” (Sobel 25). Similarly, Johannes Werner attempted to calculate longitude from the movement of the moon. Some of the more far-fetched methods that Sobel includes are the use of wounded dogs and the sound of cannon balls to pinpoint longitude. After …show more content…
The chromometer is absolutely a marker of modernity and was a great advancement for navigation. Longitude can also be associated with the period of the Scientific Revolution and the enlightenment. The Scientific Revolution was a period of time between the 17th and 18th century that brought about some of the greatest scientific minds the world has ever seen, as well as major breakthroughs across many fields of science and mathematics. One comparison between Longitude and the Scientific Revolution is the scientists that are mentioned. Sir Isaac Newton was one of the most prominent figures of the Scientific Revolution. He was a mathematician and astronomer, among other things. Sobel mentions in her book that Newton gave written insight to the Board of Longitude about his thoughts on the problem of longitude. Another scientist of the Scientific Revolution that we studied was Galileo. Galileo was the astronomer that proposed a method of calculating longitude using the “eclipses of the moons of Jupiter” (Sobel 25). It is evident that some of the scientists we have studied in this course, played a role in solving the longitude problem. The connection between Longitude and the Scientific Revolution is notably present. One of the four reasons in class that we attributed to be a cause of the Scientific Revolution was the solving navigational problems. Perhaps the challenge to invent the chromometer in
...overies in geography, technology, and navigation, all of which were important in the years to come. Thus, the scientific method laid the framework for the development of a more modern and accurate understanding of the world.
The sudden loss of all these men led to the British Parliament passing the Longitude Act of 1714. The parliament offered a prize of 20,000 pounds to anyone who could have brought them a “practical and useful” way of determining longitude. A panel of judges known as the Board of Longitude was given the task of finding the best fix to the problem and awarding the winner the money. There was a widespread belief that longitude would be able to be determined by the use of celestial objects. As a result of this King Charles built the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. John Flamsteed was put in charge of the observatory and given the title as Royal Astronomer. People also looked at timekeeping as a way to determine longitude, but it was not reliable at the time because the clocks on ships were not precise because of the changing conditions that occurred. Scientist throughout the world worked on many unconventional ways to try to determine longitude for example, putting a special powder on a dog so it would bark at certain
Like the Arabs, the Europeans sometimes let their religion come between them and the truth. The best example of this is what Boorstin refers to as the “Great Interruption,” a time in the Middle Ages where theological, rather than geographical, accuracy was prioritized in mapmaking. Rather than continuing the work of Ptolemy and refining his rectangular coordinate system, cartographers “spent their energies embroidering a neat, theologically appealing picture of what was already known, or was supposed to be known.” (Boorstin, 100) Maps depicted the world as a circular disc divided into three parts, the three parts being the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, separated by a T-shaped flow of water. Jerusalem was always in the center of the maps; the justification came from a verse in Ezekiel saying that God had placed Jerusalem in the midst of the nations, which was interpreted literally. Allowing Christian dogma to determine the shape of the earth was a major failing in Boorstin’s eyes; nevertheless, the episode was only an “interruption,” and Europe eventually resumed discovery. Firstly, Boorstin credits the west for the modern clock and calendar. Although earlier versions of clocks from other parts of the world are mentioned, the author focuses primarily on the contributions of westerners to its development. When missionary
The scientific revolution can be considered one of the biggest turning points in European history. Because of new scientific ideas and theories, a new dawn of thinking and questioning of natural elements had evolved. Scientific revolution thinkers such as Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus all saw nature as unknowable and wanted to separate myths from reality. During the scientific revolution during mid 1500-late 1600s, key figures such as Isaac Newton and Nicolaus Copernicus greatly impacted Europe in terms of astronomical discoveries, scientific methods, and the questioning of God to challenge the church’s teachings.
The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment period were both a time of immense growth in scientific discovery and an increase in the secular view of the world. The Scientific Revolution would include the use of direct observation and experimentation, dependence on mathematical confirmation, and inventions to test new scientific discoveries (Kwak). The new discoveries of the Scientific Revolution led the growing number of literate middle class individuals in the Enlightenment period. This growth of enlightened individuals led to more intellectual and cultural attitudes that shaped modern history throughout the world (Fiero, 134). This paper will analyze the impact of the
In Champlain's Voyages Dv Sievr De Champlain, he documents the places in which he travelled through extensive documentation by means of mapping. In modern society, the study of invention becomes a more prominent theme more specifically for historians to verify these stories ever took place, and for all to see the development of society in this period of time. In his writing, he used three main terms to explain distance and positioning of places on a map: paces, leagues and latitudes. Pace refers to distances in which were feasible by means of foot.
The invention of the GPS started with Dr. Ivan Getting leaving his position at Raytheon Company, and armed with the knowledge of what was at the time the most advanced navigational technology in the world, they began developing the Global Positioning System. He, Roger L. Easton, and Bradford Parkison began in the 60’s with a constellation of 24 satellites (placed in six orbital planes) orbiting the earth at a very high altitude (about
A key parallel between the scientific revolution and the enlightenment was the decreasing belief in authority. The scientific revolution lead to great advances in astronomy, mathematics, geography, botany and medicine (7). A key discovery was that of Copernicus’ heliocentric theory (2). The heliocentric theory proposed that the sun was at the centre of the universe as opposed to the earth which was the common belief held strongly at the time. Copernicus discovered that the sun was at the centre of the universe, and that the moon orbited the earth while the earth orbited the sun. This theory raised profound qu...
When his grandfather died, Nostradamus was sent to Avignon to study. He already showed a great interest in astrology and it became common talk among his fellow students. He upheld the Copernican theory that the world was round and circled around the sun more than 100 years before Galileo was prosecuted for the same belief.
Galileo used this great invention to report astronomical facts such as the moon is cover with craters instead of being smooth, the Milky Way is composed of millions of stars, and Jupiter have four moons. Perhaps the most famous discovery is the Earth revolves around the Sun and the Earth is not the center of the universe (even though he was discredited at the time).
Another important individual who drove history was the Italian astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei. Galileo discovered something so important that it changed the selfish perspective that humans were the center of the universe and led to the growth of human knowledge. Utilizing mathematics and a telescope he had developed, Galileo observed that the planets revolved around the sun and not the Earth. This was a significant discovery because not only did it contradict what the church had taught, it also showed that the universe was not what it seemed. With this truth uncovered, many people began to fascinate over the universe. This triggered people to begin studying space extensively and eventually lead to present day space exploration. Galileo also left a lasting impression upon many great minds, such as Sir Isaac Newton, who used Galileo's research and theories to further his own studies such as the physical laws, and their properties.
As Europe began to move out of the Renaissance, it brought with it many of the beliefs of that era. The continent now carried a questioning spirit and was eager for more to study and learn. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many discoveries were made in subjects all across the realm of science, but it was the doubting and testing of old traditions and authorities that truly made this time into a revolution. The Scientific Revolution challenged the authority of the past by changing the view of nature from a mysterious entity to a study of mathematics, looking to scientific research instead of the Church, and teaching that there was much knowledge of science left to be discovered.
Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, radical and controversial ideas were created in what would become a time period of great advances. The Scientific Revolution began with a spark of inspiration that spread a wild fire of ideas through Europe and America. The new radical ideas affected everything that had been established and proven through religious views. "The scientific revolution was more radical and innovative than any of the political revolutions of the seventeenth century."1 All of the advances that were made during this revolutionary time can be attributed to the founders of the Scientific Revolution.
He conducted experiments on sunlight and prisms. He discovered that sunlight was made up of different colors. This lead to his work on reflecting telescopes. At the same time he was working out his ideas of planetary motion. He returned to Cambridge in 1667 and became the a fellow, earned his MA and the following year became the chair of the math department. he then wrote a book on optics. Newton worked cooperatively wiht other scientists such as Robert Hookeand Edmund Halley on planetary motion. But he was later bitter and resentfull not wanting to give other any credit for their contributions to his work. Newton went on to serve in government positions such as a member of Parliament and later as Warden of the Mint. His only words spoken as a member of parliament were "shut the window." He had a mental breakdown of sorts resulting in thoughts of persecutiojn mania later in life.
Over the course of the years, society has been reformed by new ideas of science. We learn more and more about global warming, outer space, and technology. However, this pattern of gaining knowledge did not pick up significantly until the Scientific Revolution. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Scientific Revolution started, which concerned the fields of astronomy, mechanics, and medicine. These new scientists used math and observations strongly contradicting religious thought at the time, which was dependent on the Aristotelian-Ptolemy theory. However, astronomers like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton accepted the heliocentric theory. Astronomical findings of the Scientific Revolution disproved the fact that humans were the center of everything, ultimately causing people to question theology’s role in science and sparking the idea that people were capable of reasoning for themselves.