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Title: Worth borrowing
Review: This prettily produced book is short and easy to read, not least because of the almost complete absence of that awkwardly indigestible subject of technology (which happens to be a requirement for designing watches). The "human interest" story is appalling and worth retelling, and Sobel retells it readably--I am not qualified to judge her accuracy. Borrow this from a friend, read it--it will probably take only three hours or so--and return it. Then, when in Greenwich, take a long look at the chronometers themselves, and buy one or two of the relevant offprints from scholarly/horological journals. These, available at the National Maritime Museum shop, tell you a lot about Harrison and very, very much more than this book does about his watches. And even though their covers aren't so pretty, they're well illustrated with photographs and lovingly rendered diagrams . . . and cost less.
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