The Quest for the True Figure of the Earth: Ideas and Expeditions in Four Centuries of Geodesy (Science, Technology and Culture, 1700-1945) - Image 1

£135.00

Routledge The Quest for the True Figure of the Earth: Ideas and Expeditions in Four Centuries of Geodesy (Science, Technology and Culture, 1700-1945)

Name: The Quest for the True Figure of the Earth: Ideas and Expeditions in Four Centuries of Geodesy (Science, Technology and Culture, 1700-1945)
Brand: Routledge
Price: 135.0 GBP
Availability: InStock

Europe

This is the most expensive it has ever been. Walk away.

£135 today · previous high £135 · all-time low £130

NEW HERE?

Amazon shows you one price. We show you all of them.

Tosheroon watches Amazon prices so you don't have to. Every product on Amazon has a price history — we make it visible. Set the price you'd actually pay, and we'll email you the second it gets there. No app, no account, one email.

WHAT'S ON THIS PAGE

↓ Price chart
when this has been cheap or pricey

↓ Forecast
where the price is heading next

↓ Statistics
all-time high & low, recent range

↑ Price alert
name your number, we'll email you

Price History & Forecast

Grey patches = out of stock. Cheaper = lower on the chart. Hover for exact prices.

Last 460 days • 460 data points (No recent data available)

Historical

Generating forecast...

Price Distribution

Price distribution over 460 days • 2 price levels

Days at Price

Current Price

Price Analysis

Most common price: £135 (263 days, 57.2%)

Price range: £130 - £135

Price levels: 2 different prices over 460 days

Description

In the 1730s two expeditions set out from Paris on extraordinary journeys; the first was destined for the equatorial region of Peru, the second headed north towards the Arctic Circle. Although the eighteenth century witnessed numerous such adventures, these expeditions were different. Rather than seeking new lands to conquer or mineral wealth to exploit, their primary objectives were scientific: to determine the Earth's precise shape by measuring the variation of a degree of latitude at points separated as nearly as possible by a whole quadrant of the globe between Equator and North Pole. Although such information had consequences for navigation and cartography, the motivation was not simply utilitarian. Rather it was one theme among many in an intellectual revolution in which advances in mathematics paralleled philosophical strife, and reputations of the living and the dead stood to be elevated or destroyed. In particular the two expeditions hoped to prove the correctness of Isaac Newton's prediction that the Earth is not a perfect sphere, but flattened at the poles. In this study, the 'Figure of the Earth' controversy is for the first time comprehensively explored in all its several dimensions. It shows how a largely neglected episode of European science, that produced no spectacular process or artefact - beyond a relatively minor improvement in maps - nevertheless represents an almost unique combination of theoretical prediction and empirical method. It also details the suffering of the two teams of scientists in very different extremes of climate, whose sacrifices for the sake of knowledge rather than colonial gain, caught the imagination of the literary world of the time.

Key Features

Used Book in Good Condition

Product Specifications

Brand: Routledge
Format: hardcover
ASIN: 0754650200
Category: Books > Subjects > History > Europe
Domain: Amazon UK
Release Date: 28 November 2005
Listed Since: 13 February 2007

Barcode

No barcode data available

Routledge The Quest for the True Figure of the Earth: Ideas and Expeditions in Four Centuries of Geodesy (Science, Technology and Culture, 1700-1945)

This is the most expensive it has ever been. Walk away.

Price History & Forecast

Price Distribution

Price Analysis

Description

Key Features

Product Specifications

Barcode

Similar Products You Might Like

The Shape and Size of the Earth: A Historical Journey from Homer to Artificial Satellites

The Earth's Variable Rotation: Geophysical Causes and Consequences (Cambridge Monographs on Mechanics)

Sciences of the Earth: An Encyclopedia of Events, People, and Phenomena: 03 (Garland Encyclopedias in the History of Science)

Earth Rotation: Solved and Unsolved Problems: 187 (Nato Science Series C:, 187)

The Earth: Its Origin, History and Physical Constitution

Earth Rotation: Solved and Unsolved Problems: 187 (Nato Science Series C:, 187)

Planetary Geodesy and Remote Sensing

The Earth System

The Earth Around Us: Maintaining A Livable Planet

The Earth System

Springer - Choosing a Map Projection (Lecture Notes) Book

The Good Earth: Introduction to Earth Science

Cartographic Science: A Compendium of Map Projections, with Derivations

Weighing the World: The Reverend John Michell of Thornhill: 28 (Archimedes, 28)

Geoethics for the Future: Facing Global Challenges

Geodesy (De Gruyter Textbook)

Geodesy for Planet Earth: Proceedings of the 2009 IAG Symposium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 August 31 - 4 September 2009: 136 (International Association of Geodesy Symposia, 136)

Geodesy for Planet Earth: Proceedings of the 2009 IAG Symposium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 August 31 - 4 September 2009: 136 (International Association of Geodesy Symposia, 136)

Weltbilder: 47 (Heidelberger Jahrbücher, 47)

Global Geodetic Observing System: Meeting the Requirements of a Global Society on a Changing Planet in 2020

Global Geodetic Observing System: Meeting the Requirements of a Global Society on a Changing Planet in 2020