Perspective

The perspective is the third-person. The author writes about all the conflicts from his perspective as a historian. The author clearly admires Harrison and is fully on his side. He tells the story of Harrison's trials though in the mode of an accomplished writer of history. The story ebbs and flows between different narrative speeds. Sometimes the author tells us an important story that explains the motivations and interests of the main part of the book. But in slower sections he tells brief, but well-written, stories about experiencing the night sky, seeing Harrison's clocks in person, or the reaction of a young person to viewing the clocks. In the faster sections, the author describes in detail the fight between Harrison and the Board of Longitude or the great triumphs that Harrison pulled off by means of his clocks.

The author is a man of science and possesses an...