Quest for the True Figure of the Earth - Ideas and Expeditions in Four Centuries of Geodesy

In the 1730s two expeditions set out from Paris on extraordinary journeys, the first to Peru, the second towards the Arctic Circle. Their primary objectives were scientific: to determine the Earth's precise shape. Although such information had consequences for navigation and cartography, the motivation was not simply utilitarian. Rather it was part of an intellectual revolution in which advances in mathematics paralleled philosophical strife, and reputations of the living and the dead stood to be elevated or destroyed. In this study, the 'Figure of the Earth' controversy is for the first time comprehensively explored in all its several dimensions.

List of contents

Contents: Author's preface; A dispute in the making; Prelude to an odyssey; Some technicalities; The Lapland expedition; The Peru expedition; Meanwhile in Paris; Death and deliverance; A grievous aftermath; Once more unto the Meridian; A modern postscript; Appendices; Select reading list; Index.

About the author

Dr Michael Rand Hoare is Emeritus Reader at the University of London, UK.

Product details

• Authors: Michael Rand Hoare, Hoare Michael Rand
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 29.01.2024
• EAN: 9781138277700
• ISBN: 978-1-138-27770-0
• No. of pages: 288
• Series: Science, Technology and Culture, 1700-1945
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; History, European History, SCIENCE / History, HISTORY / Europe / General, HISTORY / World, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology, General & world history, c 1500 onwards to present day, History of Science, Archaeology, General and world history, History and Archaeology, Modern Period, C 1500 Onwards