Maupertuis:

“It is well known of what different Opinions the Learned have been these 50 Years past, with relation to the Figure of the Earth; some holding it to be that of a Spheroid flatted towards the Poles; others that it is a Spheroid prominent in that Direction.”

Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, The Figure of the Earth (1738)


In short

If you want to read a short description of the degree measurement of the Maupertuis expedition, go to the What Is This All About page. The articles on this page take you deeper into the history of science.


HISTORY OF SCIENCE

Background and travel preparations

The French state financed this major project of the Académie des sciences. It was about the accuracy of navigation, France’s desire to rule the world, and the reputation of the academics and the state.

Scientific methods

The task of the expedition was to measure the degree of the meridian arc. For this purpose, a triangulation network was built from hill to hill, and to the bell tower of the church.

Measuring instruments

The astronomical observatories built by the expedition were among the most northerly observatories of their time. The main instruments were the quadrant and the sector.

After the expedition to North

The empirical research of the Maupertuis expedition proved, despite measurement errors, that the Earth flattened toward the poles. The last verifying measurements were taken almost two hundred years later in the 1920s.