Measure of the Earth [electronic resource] : the enlightenment expedition that reshaped our world / Larrie D. Ferreiro.
2011
QB296.E9 F47 2011eb
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Title
Measure of the Earth [electronic resource] : the enlightenment expedition that reshaped our world / Larrie D. Ferreiro.
Author
Ferreiro, Larrie D.
ISBN
9780465023455 (electronic bk.)
9780465017232
9780465017232
Publication Details
New York : Basic Books, 2011.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (xix, 353 p.) : ill., maps.
Call Number
QB296.E9 F47 2011eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
526/.609033
Summary
"In the early eighteenth century, at the peak of the Enlightenment, an unlikely team of European scientists and naval officers set out on the world's first international, cooperative scientific expedition. Intent on making precise astronomical measurements at the Equator, they were poised to resolve one of mankind's oldest mysteries: the true shape of the Earth. In Measure of the Earth, award-winning science writer Larrie D. Ferreiro tells the full story of the Geodesic Mission to the Equator for the very first time. It was an age when Europe was torn between two competing conceptions of the world: the followers of Rene Descartes argued that the Earth was elongated at the poles, even as Isaac Newton contended that it was flattened. A nation that could accurately determine the planet's shape could securely navigate its oceans, giving it great military and imperial advantages. Recognizing this, France and Spain organized a joint expedition to colonial Peru, Spain's wealthiest kingdom. Armed with the most advanced surveying and astronomical equipment, they would measure a degree of latitude at the Equator, which when compared with other measurements would reveal the shape of the world. But what seemed to be a straightforward scientific exercise was almost immediately marred by a series of unforeseen catastrophes, as the voyagers found their mission threatened by treacherous terrain, a deeply suspicious populace, and their own hubris. A thrilling tale of adventure, political history, and scientific discovery, Measure of the Earth recounts the greatest scientific expedition of the Enlightenment through the eyes of the men who completed it--pioneers who overcame tremendous adversity to traverse the towering Andes Mountains in order to discern the Earth's shape. In the process they also opened the eyes of Europe to the richness of South America and paved the way for scientific cooperation on a global scale"-- Provided by publisher.
"This book tells the story of an international scientific expedition during the European Enlightenment to measure the length of a degree of latitude at the equator, and to thereby determine the exact shape of the earth. The leaderships in France and her ally Spain put together an expedition to travel to the equator and measure a degree of latitude there; compared with the degree already measured in Paris, this new measurement would yield the exact shape of the earth. The Geodesic Mission to the Equator departed for colonial Peru (modern-day Ecuador) in 1735, with a motley team that included three French scientists, two Spanish naval officers and their assistants. When the expedition finally returned almost ten years later--battered by even more unexpected hardships and self-inflicted tragedies--all of Europe was waiting with bated breath. Using their measurements, the scientists successfully revealed the true figure of the Earth: a slightly flattened sphere, a conclusion that vindicated Newton's followers"-- Provided by publisher.
"This book tells the story of an international scientific expedition during the European Enlightenment to measure the length of a degree of latitude at the equator, and to thereby determine the exact shape of the earth. The leaderships in France and her ally Spain put together an expedition to travel to the equator and measure a degree of latitude there; compared with the degree already measured in Paris, this new measurement would yield the exact shape of the earth. The Geodesic Mission to the Equator departed for colonial Peru (modern-day Ecuador) in 1735, with a motley team that included three French scientists, two Spanish naval officers and their assistants. When the expedition finally returned almost ten years later--battered by even more unexpected hardships and self-inflicted tragedies--all of Europe was waiting with bated breath. Using their measurements, the scientists successfully revealed the true figure of the Earth: a slightly flattened sphere, a conclusion that vindicated Newton's followers"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Available in Other Form
Measure of the Earth.
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Table of Contents
The baseline at YaruquÃ
The problem of the Earth's shape
Preparations for the mission
Finding Quito
Degree of difficulty
City of Kings
The triangles of Peru
Death and the surgeon
The War of Jenkins's Ear
The dance of the stars
The impossible return
A world revealed
The children of the equator.
The problem of the Earth's shape
Preparations for the mission
Finding Quito
Degree of difficulty
City of Kings
The triangles of Peru
Death and the surgeon
The War of Jenkins's Ear
The dance of the stars
The impossible return
A world revealed
The children of the equator.