The Resource The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world, Ken Alder
The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world, Ken Alder
Resource Information
The item The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world, Ken Alder represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Williamsburg Regional Library.This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
Resource Information
The item The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world, Ken Alder represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Williamsburg Regional Library.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
- Summary
- "Amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions from Paris to measure the world, one voyaging north to Dunkirk, the other south to Barcelona. Their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator, a standard that has since swept the planet. The Measure of All Things is the astonishing story of one of history's greatest scientific quests, a mission to measure the Earth and define the meter for all nations and for all time." "Yet when Ken Alder located the long-lost correspondence between the two men, along with their mission log books, he stumbled upon a two-hundred-year-old secret, and a drama worthy of the great French playwrights. The meter, it turns out, is in error. One of the two astronomers, Pierre-Francois-Andre Mechain, made contradictory measurements from Barcelona and, in a panic, covered up the discrepancy. The guilty knowledge of his misdeed drove him to the brink of madness, and ultimately to his death. Only then - after the meter had already been publicly announced - did his partner, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre, discover the truth and face a fateful choice: what matters more, the truth or the appearance of the truth?"--Jacket
- Language
- eng
- Extent
- xii, 436 pages
- Contents
-
- Ch. 5.
- A calculating people
- Ch. 6.
- Fear of France
- Ch. 7.
- Convergence
- Ch. 8.
- Triangulation
- Ch. 9.
- The empire of science
- Ch. 1.
- Ch. 10.
- The broken arc
- Ch. 11.
- Méchain's mistake, Delambre's peace
- Ch. 12.
- The metered globe
- Epilogue:
- The shape of our world
- The north-going astronomer
- Ch. 2.
- The south-going astronomer
- Ch. 3.
- The metric of revolution
- Ch. 4.
- The castle of Mont-Jouy
- Isbn
- 9780743216760
- Label
- The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world
- Title
- The measure of all things
- Title remainder
- the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world
- Statement of responsibility
- Ken Alder
- Language
- eng
- Summary
- "Amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions from Paris to measure the world, one voyaging north to Dunkirk, the other south to Barcelona. Their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator, a standard that has since swept the planet. The Measure of All Things is the astonishing story of one of history's greatest scientific quests, a mission to measure the Earth and define the meter for all nations and for all time." "Yet when Ken Alder located the long-lost correspondence between the two men, along with their mission log books, he stumbled upon a two-hundred-year-old secret, and a drama worthy of the great French playwrights. The meter, it turns out, is in error. One of the two astronomers, Pierre-Francois-Andre Mechain, made contradictory measurements from Barcelona and, in a panic, covered up the discrepancy. The guilty knowledge of his misdeed drove him to the brink of madness, and ultimately to his death. Only then - after the meter had already been publicly announced - did his partner, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre, discover the truth and face a fateful choice: what matters more, the truth or the appearance of the truth?"--Jacket
- Cataloging source
- BKL
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
- Alder, Ken
- Dewey number
- 526.1
- Illustrations
-
- illustrations
- maps
- Index
- index present
- LC call number
- QB291
- LC item number
- .A43 2003
- Literary form
- non fiction
- Nature of contents
- bibliography
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- Arc measures
- Meter (Unit)
- Delambre, J. B. J.
- Méchain, Pierre
- Target audience
- adult
- Label
- The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world, Ken Alder
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 409-412) and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
-
- Ch. 5.
- A calculating people
- Ch. 6.
- Fear of France
- Ch. 7.
- Convergence
- Ch. 8.
- Triangulation
- Ch. 9.
- The empire of science
- Ch. 1.
- Ch. 10.
- The broken arc
- Ch. 11.
- Méchain's mistake, Delambre's peace
- Ch. 12.
- The metered globe
- Epilogue:
- The shape of our world
- The north-going astronomer
- Ch. 2.
- The south-going astronomer
- Ch. 3.
- The metric of revolution
- Ch. 4.
- The castle of Mont-Jouy
- Dimensions
- 225 cm
- Extent
- xii, 436 pages
- Isbn
- 9780743216760
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- Other physical details
- illustrations, maps
- System control number
-
- 53324804
- (OCoLC)53324804
- Label
- The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world, Ken Alder
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 409-412) and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
-
- Ch. 5.
- A calculating people
- Ch. 6.
- Fear of France
- Ch. 7.
- Convergence
- Ch. 8.
- Triangulation
- Ch. 9.
- The empire of science
- Ch. 1.
- Ch. 10.
- The broken arc
- Ch. 11.
- Méchain's mistake, Delambre's peace
- Ch. 12.
- The metered globe
- Epilogue:
- The shape of our world
- The north-going astronomer
- Ch. 2.
- The south-going astronomer
- Ch. 3.
- The metric of revolution
- Ch. 4.
- The castle of Mont-Jouy
- Dimensions
- 225 cm
- Extent
- xii, 436 pages
- Isbn
- 9780743216760
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- Other physical details
- illustrations, maps
- System control number
-
- 53324804
- (OCoLC)53324804
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<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.wrl.org/portal/The-measure-of-all-things--the-seven-year/choJXC2wxfM/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.wrl.org/portal/The-measure-of-all-things--the-seven-year/choJXC2wxfM/">The measure of all things : the seven-year odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world, Ken Alder</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.wrl.org/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="https://link.wrl.org/">Williamsburg Regional Library</a></span></span></span></span></div>
