Weighing the world : the quest to measure the Earth / Edwin Danson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Danson, Edwin, 1948-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science--Europe--History--18th century.

Science.

Industrial revolution--Europe--History.

Industrial revolution.

Earth (Planet)--Figure--Measurement.

Earth (Planet).

Physical Description:

x, 289 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York, N.Y. : Oxford University Press, 2006.

Summary:

At the start of the 18th century, no one knew with any certainty the shape of the earth. Was our planet a perfect sphere or slightly squashed as Newton proposed? Master-surveyor and bestselling author Edwin Danson here presents the stories of the scientists and scholars who cut their way through jungles, crossed the artic tundra, and braved the world's highest mountains to discover the truth about our Earth. A spell-binding scientific adventure story, Weighing the World will intrigue anyone curious about the shape of our planet and how we have come to know it.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

1 I Cannot Be Wrong

2 The Titan King

3 A Calm and Gentle Character

4 The Galileo of France

5 Extreme Science

6 Robberies and Depredations

7 A Magnificent Military Sketch

8 Persons Well Versed

9 Very Expert in His Business

10 A Passage with My Horse

11 Frankenstein and Other Experiments

12 A Remarkable Hill

13 Important Observations

14 So Great a Noise

15 The Attraction of Mountains

16 The Best of the Position

17 Distinguished Merit

18 Late by a Whole Year

19 Geodetic Experiments

20 I Know It Will Answer

21 Offering Violence to Nature

22 A Meritorious Foreigner

23 Men Worthy of Confidence

24 Irregularities We Have Discovered

Appendix: Explanations and Definitions

Notes

Bibliography

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

W

Z.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-282) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780199725090

0199725098

OCLC:

437108816