Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM 

Monday, April 6, 1998 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium 

Dava Sobel

ABSTRACT -- The speaker will unfold the complex tapestry of science and intrigue, clockmaking and navigation, human ambition and greed in this true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time.  A provable method for measuring or determining longitude was offered a prize of 20,000 pounds Sterling by the English Parliament in 1714 in its attempt to prevent sailors and sailing vessels being lost at sea.  This fascinating tale of the history of the chronometer is the tale of one man, John Harrison, who dared to offer a mechanical solution to a problem for which the scientific establishment could only consider a celestial solution. 

SPEAKER: Dava Sobel is the much-acclaimed author of the national and international bestseller book Longitude published in 1995.  The book has been translated into 22 foreign languages and has won prizes in four European countries.  She is an award-winning former science reporter for the New York Times, and has contributed articles on astronomy to numerous magazines, including Audubon, Discover, Harvard Magazine, Life, and The New Yorker.    Ms. Sobel is currently working on her book Galileo’s Daughter, due for publication by Walker and Company in October.