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I'm really sorry to see that Longitude is not getting any love here. It's a superb book, and unlike the two leaders, is both of a reasonable length and a price I'm willing to pay. Both the leaders are $12, which is a bit rich for a book I'm not really excited about. Longitude, OTOH, is inexpensive (or free with KU), short, and most importantly, is a really well written book about of the most important scientific challenge of the 18th century, and one of the most difficult -- how to know how far east or west one had traveled, and exactly where you were. We have GPS, but they didn't even have an accurate clock, and thousands of sailors lost their lives because they weren't where they thought they were. To say nothing of the mercantile cost.
Longitude tells the story of how one man solved this problem, and changed the face of navigation forever. It's a well written and compelling story, and well worth the read. (Plus, if you're ever in London, take a day trip to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and see one of the magnificent clocks he built!)
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