Latitude, How American Astronomers Solved the Mystery of Variation [Kindle Edition]

Like many good books, this one works on several levels. Its primary focus is the story of Seth Carlo Chandler, an amateur astronomer who discovered the variation of latitude now called the Chandler Wobble. In a larger sense, it explores how a group of American scientists attempted to raise American science up to the standards and practices of Europe. But what makes this an especially good read is that the authors make the scientists come alive. We learn not only what these scientists did, but also why. The authors penetrate the minds and motives of the scientists, creating a story that is both historical and imaginative

Although this book should appeal to a general audience, it is especially of interest to professionals who work in geodesy, surveying, astronomy, geophysics, and related disciplines requiring precise positioning. These readers will find a wealth of information about the foundation and structure of present scientific organizations, Today, the Global Positioning System and related technologies are capable of providing a precise positioning capability quickly and easily. But these technologies owe much to the work of Chandler and other scientists of the late nineteenth century. This vivid telling of Chandler's personal and professional life provides perceptive insight into a world that eventually brought America to the forefront of science and space exploration.

Latitude presents an issue in geodesy and astronomy that perplexed scientists, astronomers, and surveyors for years. Early surveys and measurements of latitude exhibited a certain amount of error; the real question was, how much error is acceptable and what are the causes of such error. Latitude discusses in great detail the history and science behind these errors and one aspect of error in particular - polar motion.

The authors of Latitude, a Father and Daughter combination, Bill and Merri Sue Carter both have a strong scientific background in astronomy and geodesy. With this understanding of their backgrounds I fully expected Latitude to delve deep into the science behind the phenomenon of variation in latitude; however, instead I found that they spent more time discussing history. The Carters did a remarkable job in depicting the history and lives of the scientists that made the discovery but they also went further and portrayed the lives of the scientists before them that shaped the way to making the discovery. The historical items discussed range from letters to parents while at sea, family photographs, locations of actual instruments used by scientists, to the homes where they resided.

In the opening the Carters grab your attention with fictional prologue about a commercial airliner having to make a no visibility emergency landing. This landing was to take place several years ago when GPS landing systems were not commonly installed in planes. This introduction serves many purposes. First, it demonstrates what the GPS technology provides to its users and how today we take the highly technical system (that takes into account a huge amount of factors) for granted. This GPS technology is shown to give within a meter accuracy of the location of a receiver and as the book later goes on to show for a long time such accuracy was difficult to achieve. Secondly, it captivates the reader. I think the authors could have done a better job of explaining why this introduction is particularly relevant to the purpose of the book, but it comes out eventually.

One topic of discussion that caught me by surprise was religion. Religion is discussed in different places throughout the book, but the entire first half chapter on Newcomb deals with his conflict with religion It does appear clear that the authors seem to share the beliefs of Newcomb on the subject by the way the topic is discussed. There exists an enormous amount of interest in this topic that would spark emotions across the spectrum and the Carters present a pretty good case in the brief time it is discussed. This particular topic, while widely disputed by the masses of the public, would potentially be an interesting book and if published would undoubtedly spark the interest of a wider populace than that of Latitude.

During the course of the book the Carters show how Chandler was able to determine the shifting of latitude caused by the polar "wobble." It goes on to discuss how Newcomb assists in explaining to the scientific community how the expected value of a 10 month period for the shift to go full circle could actually be the 14 month period detected by Chandler. The authors point out that Chandler most likely had no clue that the expected period for the shift was 10 months and may contribute to why nobody was able to accurately detect a validated variation of latitude before him. It is an interesting point on how even the smartest people can be blinded by expectations of truth as opposed to looking at the evidence and facts behind research and hard data.

The only distraction I found while reading the book was that in a book of about 200 pages the discovery (the main point of the book) was not discussed until about page 120. For a historian this would not be a big deal; however, as a person interested primarily in the science behind the earth, I found myself anxious to get further along into the discovery of the phenomenon and on occasion asked myself: is this (topic) noteworthy enough to delay getting to the point?

Throughout the entire book I found no real negative issues with the book Latitude. While the authors will probably never receive a literary award for their style of writing, they did a great job taking into account the historical perspective of the accounts leading to the discovery of the variation of latitude caused by polar motion. The book also does a good job in discussing the science behind the discovery and how complicated all the effects and factors make this subject.

I bought this book after seeing the advertisement for it in Sky and Telescope. I'm an amature astronomer and enjoy reading about the history of science. I had never heard this story before, although I knew about many of the men (Newcomb, Gould, Airy, etc) who are included in it. I thought it was very easy to read and interesting. The authors (Father and Daughter, both scientists in this case!) clearly know a great deal about this subject and give plenty of detail. Nice pictures, plenty of good background material. I came away with a much deeper understanding of the problem of the variation of latitude as well as the problems faced by American scientists in the late 1800's.
A true inspiration to an "amature" like me to keep plugging away and looking for answers that the "professionals" may have missed.