Dava Sobel

The sun's family of planets become a familiar place in this personal account of the lives of other worlds. With her gift for weaving difficult scientific concepts into a compelling story, Sobel explores the planets' origins and oddities through the lens of popular culture, from astrology, mythology, and science fiction to art, music, poetry, biography, and history.--From publisher description.

Interweaves two stories: John Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer; and naval officer Rupert Gould who, two hundred years later, stumbles across Harrison's forgotten chromometers and devotes himself to restoring Harrison's long-neglected mechanical masterpieces.