'Dover, Wight - Northwest 3 or 4, occasionally 5.' While everyone has heard the shipping forecast broadcast on the radio, few realise what the numbers refer to. Known as the Beaufort Scale, it has never been bettered and, as a result, never replaced. This lasting legacy of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort is only part of his overall contribution to the world of the mariner, scientist and antiquarian. Nicholas Courtney chronicles the life of this unsung hero whose early years come straight from the pages of HORNBLOWER -- pirates, wars and royalty -- and whose later life carries on from LONGITUDE. The story, set at the turn of the nineteenth century, of this courageous officer who was instrumental to the major discoveries and surveys of his day -- not least the voyages of the Beagle and the subsequent fame of Charles Darwin -- is told here for the first time.