MEASURING THE EARTH FROM THE EQUATOR: Journal du voyage fait par l’ordre du roi, a l’équateur, servant d’introduction historique a la mesure des trois premiers degre’s du meridien.
by LA CONDAMINE, M. de
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- Condition
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- Seller
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Sherman Oaks, California, United States
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About This Item
(offered with) Mesure des trois premier degre's du meridien dans l'hemisphere Austral, tirée des observations de M.rs de l'académie royale des sciences, envoyés par le roi pour l'équateur. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale, 1751 Two separate volumes. 4to. [ii], xxxvi, 280, xv, [1]; [xii], 266, x, viii pp. With 6 engraved plates (5 folding), including the map of Quito, in the first work, and 3 folding plates in the second work. Engraved headpieces. Contemporary tree calf, spine gilt in compartments with morocco labels, upper front cover of both books with mild stain; some minor marginal waterstain to a few leaves of the second volume, otherwise a clean and wide-margined set.
First edition of the account of the scientific expedition to the equator sponsored by the Academie des Sciences. The French Academy sent out two expeditions in 1735, the purpose of which was to measure an arc of the meridian in order to settle a controversy over the shape of the earth. La Condamine, along with Bouger and Godin, traveled to Equador, while the second expedition consisting of Maupertuis, Clairaut and Le Monnier went to Lapland to measure several degrees of meridian at the arctic circle.
La Condamine ultimately split from his group and traveled alone to Quito. Thereafter he journeyed down the Amazon, and thus became the first to undertake a scientific exploration of that part of South America. He returned to Paris where he published this work, two years after Bouger published his own account of the results of the group's experiments.
The original controversy between the two sides regarding the shape of the earth (ablate ellipsoid according to Newton and Huygens, and prolate ellipsoid according to Descartes and the Cassinis) was quite polemical. Comparing the measurements taken during the expeditions of the French Academy ultimately verified Newton's theories.
DSB, XV, p. 270; Norman, 1250.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Rootenberg Rare Books & Manuscripts (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 13901
- Title
- MEASURING THE EARTH FROM THE EQUATOR
- Author
- LA CONDAMINE, M. de
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- FIRST EDITION
- Publisher
- Imprimerie royale
- Place of Publication
- Paris
- Date Published
- 1751
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- science, voyages, Peru, geodesy, gravitation, instruments, phyics, mathematics, travel & exploration, mechanics, technology, astronomy, french imprints, 18th century
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About Rootenberg Rare Books & Manuscripts
Glossary
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- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...