MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 03966cam a22003014a 4500
001 2011007173
003 DLC
005 20110803091240.0
008 110321s2011 nyuab b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2011007173
020 $a9780465017232
020 $a9780465023455 (e-book)
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dDLC
042 $apcc
043 $ae------
050 00 $aQB296.E9$bF47 2011
082 00 $a526/.609033$222
084 $aHIS000000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aFerreiro, Larrie D.
245 10 $aMeasure of the Earth :$bthe enlightenment expedition that reshaped our world /$cLarrie D. Ferreiro.
260 $aNew York :$bBasic Books,$cc2011.
300 $axix, 353 p. :$bill., maps ;$c25 cm.
520 $a"In the early eighteenth century, at the peak of the Enlightenment, an unlikely team of European scientists and naval officers set out on the world's first international, cooperative scientific expedition. Intent on making precise astronomical measurements at the Equator, they were poised to resolve one of mankind's oldest mysteries: the true shape of the Earth. In Measure of the Earth, award-winning science writer Larrie D. Ferreiro tells the full story of the Geodesic Mission to the Equator for the very first time. It was an age when Europe was torn between two competing conceptions of the world: the followers of Rene Descartes argued that the Earth was elongated at the poles, even as Isaac Newton contended that it was flattened. A nation that could accurately determine the planet's shape could securely navigate its oceans, giving it great military and imperial advantages. Recognizing this, France and Spain organized a joint expedition to colonial Peru, Spain's wealthiest kingdom. Armed with the most advanced surveying and astronomical equipment, they would measure a degree of latitude at the Equator, which when compared with other measurements would reveal the shape of the world. But what seemed to be a straightforward scientific exercise was almost immediately marred by a series of unforeseen catastrophes, as the voyagers found their mission threatened by treacherous terrain, a deeply suspicious populace, and their own hubris. A thrilling tale of adventure, political history, and scientific discovery, Measure of the Earth recounts the greatest scientific expedition of the Enlightenment through the eyes of the men who completed it--pioneers who overcame tremendous adversity to traverse the towering Andes Mountains in order to discern the Earth's shape. In the process they also opened the eyes of Europe to the richness of South America and paved the way for scientific cooperation on a global scale"--$cProvided by publisher.
520 $a"This book tells the story of an international scientific expedition during the European Enlightenment to measure the length of a degree of latitude at the equator, and to thereby determine the exact shape of the earth. The leaderships in France and her ally Spain put together an expedition to travel to the equator and measure a degree of latitude there; compared with the degree already measured in Paris, this new measurement would yield the exact shape of the earth. The Geodesic Mission to the Equator departed for colonial Peru (modern-day Ecuador) in 1735, with a motley team that included three French scientists, two Spanish naval officers and their assistants. When the expedition finally returned almost ten years later--battered by even more unexpected hardships and self-inflicted tragedies--all of Europe was waiting with bated breath. Using their measurements, the scientists successfully revealed the true figure of the Earth: a slightly flattened sphere, a conclusion that vindicated Newton's followers"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 299-337) and index.
650 0 $aGeodesy$zEurope$xHistory$y18th century.
650 0 $aScientific expeditions$zEurope$xHistory$y18th century.
650 7 $aHISTORY / General$2bisacsh.