The quest for the true figure of the Earth
Subtitle: ideas and expeditions in four centuries of geodesy
By: Michael Rand Hoare.
Series: Science, technology, and culture, 1700-1945
Publisher: Ashgate Pub.; Ashgate Publishing
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Burlington, VT
Language: eng
Number of pages: 275
Subjects: Geodesy -- History.
Description: "In this study, the 'Figure of the Earth' controversy is for the first time comprehensively explored in all its several dimensions. It shows how a largely neglected episode of European science that produced no spectacular process or artefact - beyond a relatively minor improvement in maps - nevertheless represents an almost unique combination of theoretical prediction and empirical method. It also details the suffering of the two teams of scientists in very different extremes of climate, whose sacrifices for the sake of knowledge rather than colonial gain, caught the imagination of the literary world of the time."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: A dispute in the making; title: Prelude to an odyssey; title: Some technicalities; title: The Lapland expedition; title: The Peru expedition; title: Meanwhile in Paris; title: Death and deliverance; title: A grievous aftermath; title: Once more unto the meridian; title: A modern postscript.