author
William Hobbs
b. 1658
A little-known early 18th-century writer, he is remembered for a book on one of navigation’s hardest problems: how to find longitude at sea. The surviving record is slim, but his work points to the inventive, practical spirit of the period.
1 Audiobook
A new discovery for finding the longitude
by William Hobbs
About the author
William Hobbs, born in 1658, is a very obscure historical author whose surviving bibliographic trail centers on A New Discovery for Finding the Longitude, published in 1716. Library and catalog records identify him as the author of that work, and some editions describe him with the label “Philo Mathem,” suggesting a mathematical or scientific bent.
His book was written in response to the intense interest in solving the longitude problem, one of the great scientific and navigational challenges of the age. Rather than being remembered as a major literary figure, Hobbs stands out today as one of the many lesser-known writers and projectors who contributed ideas during a time when navigation, astronomy, and mechanics were closely tied to exploration and trade.
Very little reliable biographical information beyond his birth year is easy to confirm from standard sources, so much of his life remains unclear. Even so, his surviving work offers a small but vivid glimpse of the ambitious problem-solving culture of the early 1700s.