This is the type of book that will interest anyone in science. It was a bestseller a few years back, but I am always surprised by how few people I know have ever heard of this gem. Back in the early 18th century, determining longitude was as big of a problem as discovering a cure for cancer is today. Thousands of seamen lost their lives because of man’s inability to accurately determine an east-west position. Then along came a country carpenter by the name of John Harrison whose skill at clock-making changed the fate of the world. Were it not for King George III in 1773, though, nobody would have known of Harrison’s contribution. And I am not even telling you the most appealing and appalling parts of the story.