# Longitude by Dava Sobel

4 Hacker News commenters recommended Longitude by Dava Sobel and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a readable account of the challenges of inventing maritime chronometers for measuring longitude, and a story of scientific resistance to the right answer.

## Why people recommend it

- Readable account of chronometer invention (2 comments): "which is about the challenges of inventing and the first maritime chronometers for the purpose of accurately measuring longitude" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46632480)) "The book "Longitude" is fascinating, and discusses the challenges prior to chronometers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46613001))
- Fun, fascinating read (2 comments): "The book "Longitude" is fascinating, and discusses the challenges prior to chronometers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46613001)) "Iirc it was a fun read if anyone else finds that sort of thing interesting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47824368))
- Scientific establishment resisting the right answer (1 comments): "A story of how the scientific elite stalled progress because the right answer wasn't the one they hoped" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47825067))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0007214227?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780007214228) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Longitude by Dava Sobel", https://hackerapproved.com/p/longitude/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).