Dava Sobel

Dava Sobel is a writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Her works include:

• Longitude : The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (1995) – the genius in question was John Harrison, who spent decades trying to convince the British Admiralty of the accuracy of his naval timepieces and their use in determining one's longitude at sea in order to win the longitude prize.
• Galileo's Daughter : A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love (2000)

Longitude was dramatized for television by A&E in 1999. Michael Gambon played John Harrison, and Jeremy Irons played Rupert Gould, who restored Harrison's timepieces for posterity in the mid 20th century.