Slight caveat.. determining longitude wasn't so much one of the biggest scientific problems of the time, as it was an important problem the solution of which of

Slight caveat.. determining longitude wasn't so much one of the biggest scientific problems of the time, as it was an important problem the solution of which offered great utility. Longitude is indeed a great read but I'm pretty sure even the author would say she wasn't doing history (provides a pretty good bibliography though). So, it is not really the history or the entire story of the subject but a very good "dramatic" telling. Falls easily into the trap of "Sole Genius Persevering" tradition.