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Just a short note on Don Seltzer's remark "At one point,he attempts to implement Maskelyne's idea of a pendulum chair for observing Jupiter's moons at sea, with predictable results."

That chair was an invention of Christopher Irwin.Maskelyne only tried it on his 1763 voyage to Barbados with the foreseeable result which he relayed in a letter to his brother: "„My friend Irwin‘s machine proves a mere bauble, not in the least useful for the purpose intended“.

Personally I prefer O'Brian and I take them primarily as historical novels trying to convey the feeling of that time which is shown by the fact that some are situated mostly on land. Apart from that: In contrast to Forester who kills off his female characters - which are quite bloodless anyway - when they are not needed for the plot anymore, O'Brian' female characters Diana and Sophie seem to be real persons with a life of their own.

Wolfgang
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