That I got into: "Longitude" by Dava Sobel.
http://www.amazon.com/Longitude-Greatest-Scientific-Problem-ebook/dp/B003WUYE66
A crewmember sent me a copy after our passage from Annapolis up to Maine this summer. I had heard bits of the story before (PBS, maybe?) -- anyway, it's a quick read, short book, with a story to tell.
You might enjoy it.