The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world /

In June 1792, the erudite and cosmopolitan Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre and the cautious and scrupulous Pierre-Francois-Andre Mechain set out from Paris -- one north to Dunkirk, the other south to Barcelona to calculate the length of the meter. In the face of death threats from village revolutiona...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Alder, Ken
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Free Press, [2002]
Subjects:
Online Access:Table of contents
Table of Contents:
  • North-going astronomer
  • South-going astronomer
  • Metric of revolution
  • Castle of Mont-Jouy
  • Calculating people
  • Fear of France
  • Convergence
  • Triangulation
  • Empire of science
  • Broken arc
  • Mechain's mistake, Delambre's peace
  • Metered globe
  • Epilogue: Shape of our world.