After 150 pages I decided if this book didn’t end by smashing the patriarchy, I didn’t want to read anymore. And since it would end in 1642, I gave up. Say what you will about ‘the times,’ it’s impossible to buy the idea that a well-off, well-educated, intelligent and self-respecting public figure c...
Finding the latitude in the 17th century was straightforward, but finding the longitude was extremely difficult. This compromised the safety of all seafarers, and in one particular incident around 200 lives were lost of the Isles of Scilly.The admiralty of the day decided to set up a Longitude board...
I can't remember if I read the book first or saw the television series first, but some combination of the two was like a long, calm, very safe ocean voyage.
This is strictly a historical book. There is precious little science in it. It was a good overview of the Copernican revolution and particularly the role of Rheticus in convincing Copernicus to publish his work: On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. The book also briefly deals with the rep...
I wanted a lot more exercises. This is mostly a bunch of variations of crunches and weird rolling around that ended up hurting my back. A good yoga book would be a better idea and have more varied stretches and exercises. For neck/shoulder/back stretches, I like Stretching better.I think there's a r...
Read about 80% and I'm just not feeling it. Interesting subject matter, but it's a slow read. It felt like the race to discover a lunar method for determining the longitude was happening in real time.
Galileo's story was fascinating. I kind of felt like the letters from his daughter were kind of arbitrarily thrown in. They detracted from the presentation of Galileo's life. If Sobel wanted an excuse to show off the translated letters, I wish she would have focused more on Sour Maria Celeste's conv...
This is a great book. It's one of the excellent historical non-fiction books that is really well written and interesting, even if you're not normally interested in the subject. I can honestly say I have never once wondered about how longitude is determined, or why it matters. Until I read this book,...
Rating: 4* of fiveThe Book Report: Heliocentrism. I doubt that stirs much passion in anyone reading this review. It means "sun centeredness." *yawn* The solar system is heliocentric. Hawaiian culture is heliocentric. Big whoop.In the Sixteenth Century, this sh*t was hot news, and really really contr...
A lot of people love her prose style, but I didn't enjoy it. Some authors can blend personal reflections with non-fiction; I didn't think Sobel pulled it off. This would be a good introduction to the solar system for someone who isn't very familiar with it. In the absence of enjoyable writing, there...
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