Overview
Who would solve one of the most perplexing scientific problems of all time?
This dramatic picture-book biography brings to life – with illustrations that glow with wit and inspiration – the fascinating story of the quest to measure longitude. While the scientific establishment of the eighteenth century was certain that the answer lay in mapping the heavens, John Harrison, an obscure, uneducated clockmaker, dared to imagine a different solution: a seafaring clock. How Harrison held fast to his vision and dedicated his life to the creation of a small jewel of a timepiece that would change the world is a compelling story – as well as a memorable piece of history, science, and biography.
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Describes the need for sailors to be able to determine their position at sea and the efforts of John Harrison, an eighteenth century man who spent his life refining instruments to enable them to do this.
Synopsis
Who would solve one of the most perplexing scientific problems of all time?
This dramatic picture-book biography brings to life – with illustrations that glow with wit and inspiration – the fascinating story of the quest to measure longitude. While the scientific establishment of the eighteenth century was certain that the answer lay in mapping the heavens, John Harrison, an obscure, uneducated clockmaker, dared to imagine a different solution: a seafaring clock. How Harrison held fast to his vision and dedicated his life to the creation of a small jewel of a timepiece that would change the world is a compelling story – as well as a memorable piece of history, science, and biography.
A Junior Library Guild Selection
The Washington Post
Lasky balances the science and the human drama of Harrison's story nicely, and Kevin Hawkes's double-spread paintings are as witty as they are luminous. And how about that clever title? — Elizabeth Ward
Editorials
The Washington Post
Lasky balances the science and the human drama of Harrison's story nicely, and Kevin Hawkes's double-spread paintings are as witty as they are luminous. And how about that clever title? — Elizabeth WardPublishers Weekly
Lasky and Hawkes (previously teamed for The Librarian Who Measured the Earth) turn their attention to John Harrison, the 18th-century British clockmaker who solved one of history's most vexing navigational problems. Tackling her subject in short, titled segments, Lasky gets off to a bumpy start as she attempts to build a foundational understanding of the complicated role that time plays in measuring longitude (Latitude... is easier to find than longitude because one can measure the height of the sun at noon). But as soon as Lasky turns to Harrison, who spent a lifetime doggedly perfecting a sea-going clock, her prose becomes clear and compelling. Her colorful storytelling provides both a snapshot of history as well as an appreciation for Harrison's remarkable determination and persistence. Hawkes contributes characteristically dappled paintings marked by deft use of light and shadow. His sly sense of humor leavens the information-laden text. An illustration for the dubious Time on Tiptoe Method of determining longitude, for example, finds a cat and rat peering at the night sky on tiptoe alongside two sailors. Many spreads are masterfully envisioned (a beautifully lit group of white-wigged astronomers gathered in an observatory at night is a case in point), and while Hawkes's style is soft-focus, he imparts the impression of the details so important to Harrison. Endpapers feature one of the celebrated timepieces. Ages 8-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
This is a story of persistence. John Harrison was a man who never gave up his dream despite problems, setbacks and the failure of others to take him seriously. In 1714 the British Parliament passed the Longitude Act, offering a prize of 20,000 pounds sterling for a workable way to measure longitude. Many British ships were sinking because, although sailors could measure latitude, the north-south position, they had no means to measure longitude, the east-west position and could not know their ship's true location. The entries ranged from the scientific to the ridiculous, but a young carpenter combined his working experience with his independent study of mathematics and the laws of motion to solve the problem. John Harrison fashioned a sea clock, known as H1. Harrison was accorded little respect because of his lack of education, but he continued to improve the sea clock. His fifth model, H5, met the requirements, but the prize money was not given to the now seventy-nine-year old John Harrison until his son William presented the case to King George III. The Longitude Prize was never officially awarded but any reader of this story will be aware that John Harrison was a winner. He never gave up, he accomplished what he set out to do and he made voyages safer for all seafarers.&3151;Carolyn Mott Ford