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1) Longitude: the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time
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Describes the forty-year effort of John Harrison to invent the chronometer, the first instrument able to keep accurate time for navigational purposes.
"Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day -- and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon...
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"A vibrant account of how measurement has invisibly shaped our world, from ancient civilizations to the modern day. From the cubit to the kilogram, the humble inch to the speed of light, measurement is a powerful tool that humans invented to make sense of the world. In this revelatory work of science and social history, James Vincent dives into its hidden world, taking readers from ancient Egypt, where measuring the annual depth of the Nile was an...
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"Crane, the former president of the Royal Geographic Society, documents the remarkable expedition undertaken by a group of twelve European adventurer-scientists in the mid-eighteenth century. The team spent years in South America, scaling volcanoes and traversing jungles before they achieved their goal of establishing the exact shape of the Earth by measuring the length of 1 degree latitude at the equator"
5) Longitude
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"In the 18th century, to stop the loss of cargo ships at sea, Britain's Parliament offers an unprecedented cash award to anyone who can devise a way to determine longitude at sea. Convinced her can solve the problem that has defeated England's best minds, rural clock maker John Harrison begins an obsessive, 40-year struggle to claim the Longitude prize with his ingenious marine clock. Two hundred years in the future, naval officer Rupert Gould stumbles...
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"From the beginning of history, measurement has been interwoven into the human experience, shaping our understanding of nature, personal relationships, and the supernatural. We measure the world to know our past, comprehend the present, and plan the future. Renowned physicist Piero Martin explores how scientific knowledge is built around seven key pillars of measurement: the meter for length; the second for time; the kilogram for mass; the kelvin...
7) Longitude
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English
Description
Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--and had been for centuries. The scientific establishment of Europe--from Galileo to Sir Issac Newton--had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea,...
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Since our ancestors first counted the passing seasons, humans have used measurement to help master and understand our world. Hosted by Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, this program shows how measurements have shaped the course of history, science, and civilization; and changed every aspect of our daily lives.
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"The author of this history of mankind's increasingly successful attempts to understand, to measure and to map the Earth's gravity field (commonly known as 'little g' or just 'g') has been following in the footsteps of pioneers, intermittently and with a variety of objectives, for more than fifty years. It is a story that begins with Galileo's early experiments with pendulums and falling bodies, progresses through the conflicts between Hooke and Newton...
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