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I always think about what a cool adventure it must have been, for Pierre Méchain and Jean-Baptiste Delambre to roam for 7 years, go wherever they need thanks to
by nartho 1y ago
I always think about what a cool adventure it must have been, for Pierre Méchain and Jean-Baptiste Delambre to roam for 7 years, go wherever they need thanks to an official letter, make calculations and come back successful to Paris. To think that they were only off by .2mm !
- selkin 1y ago“The Measure of All Things” by Ken Adler[0] is a good, extremely readable book about their adventure, which was indeed wild. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-349-11507-8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-349-...
- frasermarlow 1y agoYes, this is a brilliant book, and well worth reading. Another other one in the same vein is "Longitude" by Dava Sobel: https://www.amazon.com/Longitude-Genius-Greatest-Scientific-Problem/dp/080271529X https://www.amazon.com/Longitude-Genius-Greatest-Scientific-...