The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the WorldIn June 1792, amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions on an extraordinary journey. Starting in Paris, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre would make his way north to Dunkirk, while Pierre-François-André Méchain voyaged south to Barcelona. Their mission was to measure the world, and their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator—a standard that would be used “for all people, for all time.” The Measure of All Things is the astonishing tale of one of history’s greatest scientific adventures. Yet behind the public triumph of the metric system lies a secret error, one that is perpetuated in every subsequent definition of the meter. As acclaimed historian and novelist Ken Alder discovered through his research, there were only two people on the planet who knew the full extent of this error: Delambre and Méchain themselves. By turns a science history, detective tale, and human drama, The Measure of All Things describes a quest that succeeded as it failed—and continues to enlighten and inspire to this day. |
Contents
The NorthGoing Astronomer | 11 |
The SouthGoing Astronomer | 39 |
The Metric of Revolution | 69 |
Convergence | 181 |
Triangulation | 209 |
Méchains Mistake Delambres Peace 291 | |
The Metered Globe 325 | 25 |
Other editions - View all
The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That ... Ken Alder Limited preview - 2014 |
The Measure of All Things: The Seven-year Odyssey and Hidden Error that ... Ken Alder Limited preview - 2002 |
The Measure of All Things: The Seven-year Odyssey that Transformed the World Ken Alder No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
Academy of Sciences Adrien-Marie Legendre Ancien Régime Archives astronomical August Barcelona Base baseline Bellet Bigourdan Borda brumaire Bugge Bureau of Longitudes calculations Calon Carcassonne Cassini Catalonia citizens colleagues Commission Condorcet Côte-d'Or d'Assy December Delambre and Méchain Delambre to Méchain Delambre's Dezauche Dunkerque earth error February final floréal Fontana de Oro France French frimaire fructidor geodesists geodesy geodetic historique Imprimerie instruments January Jérôme Lalande July June labor Lalande Lalande's Laplace Lavoisier Legendre letter logbook Madame Méchain March Méchain to Delambre Méchain to G Mémoires meridian expedition messidor meter metric system mission Mont-Jouy months mountain Napoleon National nivôse November observations Observatory October Oriani Panthéon Paris Perpignan pluviôse poids et mesures precision Prieur Rapport repeating circle Revolution Revolutionary Rodez Saint-Denis savants scientific September 1798 signal Slop Spain Spanish standard stars stations survey système métrique tion tower town Tranchot triangles vendémiaire ventôse Weights and Measures wrote