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Latitude
- Author
- Nick Crane
- Narrator
- Roy McMillan
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Publish Date
- 27 May 2021
- Run Time
- 6 hours 35 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
The year is 1735.
Twelve unruly men board ships bound for South America.
Their mission? To discover the true shape of the earth.
They will be exposed to a wilderness of dangers none can imagine.
The survivors won't return for ten years.
An almost forgotten moment in history, a story for our times, this is the true story of the mission to discover the shape of the earth.
They knew the world wasn't a sphere. Either it stretched at the poles or it bulged at the equator. But which? They needed to know because accurate maps saved lives at sea and made money on land. But measuring the earth was so difficult that most thought it impossible.
The world's first international team of scientists was sent to a continent of unmapped rainforests and ice-shrouded volcanoes where they attempted to measure the length on the ground of one degree of latitude. Beset by egos and disease, storms and earthquakes, mutiny and murder, they struggled for ten years to reach the single figure they sought.
Latitude is an epic story of survival and science set in mountain camps and remote observatories. It is also a story of exploration in which an unruly gaggle of misfits made breakthroughs in rubber and platinum, gravity and fogbows, quinine and Inca archaeology. A breathtaking tale of courage in adversity, it is celebrated today as the first modern exploring expedition.
© Nick Crane 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021
Critics Review
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This wonderfully readable and rollicking story of adventure and scientific exploration is as gripping as any novel. Full of big ideas and even bigger personalities, it's a book that sparkles with intelligence and wit
Alex Preston, author and journalist
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Crane has a rare knack for showing people things they really ought to see across space and time without them having to get out of their chair. Latitude applies his trademark blend of pace, rigour and attention to enticing detail, in order to fill in a key segment of historical and geographical knowledge
Joe Smith, director of The Royal Geographic society
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Latitude is a thrilling story of courage, survival and science. It's an extraordinary, visceral and vivid read
Geographical Magazine
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A story for our times
Eastern Daily Press
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An amazing story
Jeremy Vine
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Nick Crane
- Narrator
- Roy McMillan
- Duration
- 6 hours 35 minutes
- Release Date
- 27 May 2021
- ISBN
- 9780241543153
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Genre
- Biography: adventurers and explorers, Biography: historical, political and military, Travel writing, Geographical discovery and exploration, Physical geography and topography, History of ideas
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin. The year is 1735.Twelve unruly men board ships bound for South America.Their mission? To discover the true shape of the earth.They will be exposed to a wilderness of dangers none can imagine.The survivors won't return for ten years.An almost forgotten moment in history, a story for our times, this is the true story of the mission to discover the shape of the earth.They knew the world wasn't a sphere. Either it stretched at the poles or it bulged at the equator. But which? They needed to know because accurate maps saved lives at sea and made money on land. But measuring the earth was so difficult that most thought it impossible.The world's first international team of scientists was sent to a continent of unmapped rainforests and ice-shrouded volcanoes where they attempted to measure the length on the ground of one degree of latitude. Beset by egos and disease, storms and earthquakes, mutiny and murder, they struggled for ten years to reach the single figure they sought.Latitude is an epic story of survival and science set in mountain camps and remote observatories. It is also a story of exploration in which an unruly gaggle of misfits made breakthroughs in rubber and platinum, gravity and fogbows, quinine and Inca archaeology. A breathtaking tale of courage in adversity, it is celebrated today as the first modern exploring expedition.© Nick Crane 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021
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