Dava Sobel

Advantages: Science told simply
Disadvantages: None

...I read this book about a year ago. It was recommended to me by my A-Level Physics teacher. I am now studying physics and find myself appreciating this book and Galileo's Daughter also written my Dava Sobel. As a physicist there are a great many principles that am I being taught and they are just words in a text book or on a board. Reading this book I was able to see that the process of discovery caused a great deal more stress than we are taught. She writes in such a manner that the scientists of the time once more come alive and tell their story of what really happened and why. I find the book intriguing in it's discussion of the problems that John Harrison experienced and how eventually solved the problem. We are shown throughtout this book that science is also an art and that the history of a discovery is almost as important... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: good story
Disadvantages: not enough of the story

...This is a compelling popular fiction tale where Sobel manages to take an historical epic quest and intertwine it with a rich narrative. The story is at times a little weak and plays second fiddle to the interesting history of the search for an instrument which accurately traces longitude for sailors. She manages to make the scientific side accessible and she unearths the intrigues and politics behind the science. I have read better popular science works but that this has been made into a successful television series is proof enough of the power of the story. The characterisation is not always clear or developed but that is not the point of the work.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average off topic

Advantages: Scientific ideas in an understandable way
Disadvantages: Not long enough

...... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful