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001 49699440
003 OCoLC
005 20031111094109.0
008 020420s2002 nyua b 001 0 eng cam4a
010 2002070267
020 074321675X
040 DLC|cDLC|dIG#|dXY4|dWSL
042 pcc
049 VCNA
050 00 QB291|b.A43 2002
050 00 QB291|b.A43 2002
082 00 526/.1|221
100 1 Alder, Ken.
245 14 The measure of all things :|bthe seven-year odyssey and
hidden error that transformed the world /|cKen Alder.
260 New York :|bFree Press,|cc2002.
300 x, 422 p. :|bill. (some col.) ;|c25 cm.
504 Includes bibliographical references (p. 397-400) and
index.
505 0 North-going astronomer -- South-going astronomer -- Metric
of revolution -- Castle of Mont-Jouy -- Calculating people
-- Fear of France -- Convergence -- Triangulation --
Empire of science -- Broken arc -- Mechain's mistake,
Delambre's peace -- Metered globe -- Epilogue: Shape of
our world.
520 In June 1792, the erudite and cosmopolitan Jean-Baptiste-
Joseph Delambre and the cautious and scrupulous Pierre-
Francois-Andre Mechain set out from Paris -- one north to
Dunkirk, the other south to Barcelona to calculate the
length of the meter. In the face of death threats from
village revolutionary councils, superstitious peasants,
and civil war, they had only their wits and their letters
to each other for support. Their findings would be used
to create what we now know as the metric system. Despite
their painstaking and Herculean efforts, Mechain made a
mistake in his calculations that he covered up. The
guilty knowledge of his error drove him to the brink of
madness, and in the end, he died in an attempt to correct
himself. Only then was his mistake discovered. Delambre
decided to seal all evidence of the error in a vault at
the Paris Observatory. Two hundred year later, historian
Ken Alder discovered the truth. With scintillating prose
and wry wit, Alder uses these previously overlooked
letters, diaries, and journals to bring to life a
remarkable time when everything was open to question and
the light of reason made every dream seem possible.
600 10 Delambre, J. B. J.|q(Jean Baptiste Joseph),|d1749-1822.
600 10 Méchain, Pierre,|d1744-1804.
650 0 Arc measures|xHistory.
650 0 Meter (Unit)|xHistory.
856 41 |zTable of contents|uhttp://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/
fy034/2002070267.html
994 E0|bVCN