The subtitle here tells the reader exactly what the book is about; what it doesn't say is how much fun it is to read. The Greek astronomers could measure latitude as early as the third century b.c., but more than 2,000 years passed before the development of a reliable method for measuring longitude. Former New York Times reporter Sobel (coauthor, Arthritis: What Works, 1989, etc.) sets the stage by recounting the difficulties early navigators had in determining their exact longitude. After the loss of many ships and human lives as a result of navigational errors, in 1714 Parliament offered a rich prize for a practical way to measure longitude at sea. British astronomers saw a solution in the stars, by making sufficiently accurate measurements of lunar positions and comparing them to positions calculated for a known reference point. But the calculations could take hours and were tricky even in the best of circumstances; one future astronomer royal, under pressure, botched a measurement of the longitude of Barbados. Enter John Harrison, an apparently self-taught English clockmaker. Over a period of 40 years, he developed four increasingly precise chronometers capable of holding accurate time over a long, rough sea voyage. Comparing the chronometer's time to local sun time, a navigator could measure longitude with high precision in short order. Despite fierce opposition from astronomers (who scorned a "mere mechanic"), Harrison's clocks were enthusiastically endorsed by every mariner who put them to the test (including such luminaries as Cook and Bligh). With the support of King George III, the clockmaker eventually prevailed and won the prize. Sobel tells his story (and the larger history of the search for longitude) clearly, entertainingly, and with a fine sense of the era in which it took place. Breezily written and full of fascinating characters and facts, here's a science book as enjoyable as any novel.
Pub Date: Oct. 19, 1995
ISBN: 0-8027-1312-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
In this glossy photo essay, the author briefly recounts the study and exploration of the moon, beginning with Stonehenge and concluding with the 1998–99 unmanned probe, Lunar Prospector. Most of the dramatic photographs come from NASA and will introduce a new generation of space enthusiasts to the past missions of Project Mercury, Gemini, and most especially the moon missions, Apollo 1–17. There are plenty of photographs of various astronauts in space capsules, space suits, and walking on the moon. Sometimes photographs are superimposed one on another, making it difficult to read. For example, one photograph shows the command module Columbia as photographed from the lunar module and an insert shows the 15-layer space suit and gear Neil Armstrong would wear for moonwalking. That’s a lot to process on one page. Still, the awesome images of footprints on the moon, raising the American flag, and earthrise from the moon, cannot help but raise shivers. The author concludes with a timeline of exploration, Web sites, recommended books, and picture credits. For NASA memorabilia collectors, end papers show the Apollo space badges for missions 11–17. Useful for replacing aging space titles. (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-57091-408-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
A treat for fans of the crocodile-hunting, snow leopard–searching, wolves-and-men genre, and a solid addition to it.
Nature writer Montgomery (Encantado: Pink Dolphin of the Amazon, 2002, etc.) leads us on an evocative journey to difficult places, following the trail of a mystery creature.
Long unseen, little-known, scientifically unrecorded species have a habit of turning up in village markets throughout the ancient rainforests of Southeast Asia, often on the way to becoming meat or elixir. So it was with a moon bear that Montgomery, in the company of zoologist Gary Galbreath, found in one small Cambodian town, providing evidence that at least one member of what Rudyard Kipling called “the most bizarre of the ursine species” had survived bombing, landmines, and clear-cutting. But, Galbreath revealed, a more bizarre species lurked somewhere out in the Annamite highlands of Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos, which the eminent zoologist George Schaller once characterized as “a living lost world” and a lode for unknown species: a golden moon bear, visibly different from the moon- and sun-bears of Southeast Asia, an unknown link in the ursine evolutionary chain. Their quest to document this creature on the ground forms the narrative frame of this account, which takes in great patches of unknown territory and affords a sobering, sidelong view of lands still ravaged by war. That tale is well paced and full of surprises, though some of Montgomery’s prose is overly lush, bordering on eco-porn (“Perhaps this is the pace the bear lives by—an ancient pace, graceful and considered, like the way her long tongue emerges from her mouth. . . . Like a separate, private creature, the pink ribbon slides from between her black lips, taking five full seconds to extrude its full length, stretching seven inches longer than her muzzle”). Despite occasional excesses, however, her story does the job—and, in the bargain, offers well-considered remarks on the difficulties of establishing animal- and habitat-conservation programs in impoverished countries where aboriginal people are disappearing as quickly as any other species.
A treat for fans of the crocodile-hunting, snow leopard–searching, wolves-and-men genre, and a solid addition to it.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2002
ISBN: 0-7432-0584-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
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