Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude

by Louise Borden

Book Overview

"For hundreds of years ships had been sailing to places far and near without really knowing where they were!"
Sailors knew how to measure latitude, their location north or south of the equator, but they could not measure longitude, their location east or west of their home port. Because of this, many lives were lost worldwide. The key to solving this problem lay in devising a clock that could keep absolutely accurate time while...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689842163
• ISBN13: 9780689842160
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.3" x 10.4"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

A Fine Children's Book

SEA CLOCKS tells the story of John Harrison, the English craftsman who solved the problem of how to determine longitude. Until he came along, latitude (distance north or south) was pretty easy to determine but longitude (distance east and west) was nothing more than a guess. The idea was understood but there was no practical way to make the determination. It depended upon the accurate determination of time which was beyond the mechanical devices of the day, especially at sea. Harrison came from a humble background and trained himself. He managed to make important friends and connections. He also had many who were jealous of him and held him down. He spent his life solving the problem of longitude only to find that many snobs wanted to wait for a solution until it could be provided by somebody of the right social class. This is not an exciting read but it is in informative one that might well appeal to young people. It presents just enough of the technicalities to make the problem understandable but does not go off into detail. Mostly, it is just a story of perseverance and honor. It's a good example.

An engaging picture book about solving a real world problem

Louise Borden's Sea Clocks: The Story Of Longitude is a picture book rendition of a troubling problem for sailors in the 1700's and before - although they could measure their latitude, they could not calculate their longitude, and therefore did not know exactly where they were on the waves. Many lives were lost at sea because of this. The solution to the problem would be to devise a clock that would keep accurate time at sea, regardless of water or weather conditions. Many struggled to create such a timekeeper; Sea Clocks follows the work of mechanical genius John Harrison (1693-1776), who labored tirelessly to make a viable sea clock a reality. Black-and-white and some sketchy color illustrations by Erik Blegvad nicely illuminate this engaging picture book about solving a real world problem.