Knowledge (XXG)

French Geodesic Mission to Lapland

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joined the team. The expedition arrived in Tornio on June 19, 1736, spent the rest of 1736 making measurements, and returned to France on June 10, 1737. By measuring the length of the arc, Maupertuis's team was able to prove that the Earth is, indeed,
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Thus, Sir, You See the Earth is Oblate, according to the Actual Measurements, as it has been already found by the Law of Staticks: and this flatness appears even more considerable than Sir Isaac Newton thought it. Maupertuis' Letter to
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After analyzing their data, they found that the length of 1 degree of latitude to be 57,422 toise in Lapland. The other expedition to Ecuador found it to be 56,734 toise in Ecuador.
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After arriving in Tornio in summer, the team moved north along the Meänmaa valley, making precise angle measurements between reference points to lay down a system of
224:. A general collection of the best and most interesting voyages and travels in all parts of the world (Vol. 1 ed.). London: Pinkerton. pp. 259–336. 94:'s length – about 111 km. The south end of the arc was at the tower of the church of Tornio, the north end was at the hill of Kittisvaara. 78:, have given us much information about the nature and culture of 18th-century Lapland, and the books have inspired many travellers to head to Meänmaa. 371: 175: 395: 405: 400: 116:
region in 1669, finding a figure of 57,060 toise. Together, these figures showed the shape of the earth to be oblate.
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Later, Euler used figures from these expeditions, as well as later data, to compute the shape of the earth.
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for measuring the shape of the Earth. One expedition was sent to Ecuador to perform measurements near the
357: 102: 75: 329: 306: 267: 148:. The expedition team reached Tornio, proceeded upriver to Kittisvaara, then returned to Tornio. 298: 259: 179: 145: 141: 19: 341: 271: 251: 239: 132: 91: 59: 384: 122: 48: 87: 68: 255: 109: 64: 44: 302: 263: 204: 310: 286: 337: 105:
and used wooden rods to measure its length to an accuracy of 4 inches.
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Journal of a voyage to the North in the years 1736 and 1737
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The books describing this trip, written by Maupertuis and
345: 176:"Maupertuis'n astemittaus Tornionlaaksossa 1736-1737" 287:"Marginalia: The Shape of the Earth. Part III" 365: 8: 372: 358: 125:, third Astronomer Royal of Great Britain. 240:"Euler and the Flattening of the Earth" 166: 58:. As Swedish representative, professor 54:The expedition to Meänmaa was led by 7: 326: 324: 233: 231: 344:. You can help Knowledge (XXG) by 201:Maupertuis, Pierre-Louis Moreau de 86:The team measured the length of a 29:French Geodesic Mission to Lapland 23:Tornio Church. Drawing by Outhier. 14: 47:to perform measurements near the 328: 35:carried out in 1736–1737 by the 1: 272:10.4169/mathhorizons.21.1.25 256:10.4169/mathhorizons.21.1.25 178:(in Finnish). Archived from 16:1736–7 scientific expedition 220:Outhier, RĂ©ginald (1808) . 427: 323: 285:Fernie, J. Donald (1992). 37:French Academy of Sciences 396:History of Earth science 136:Traditional location of 43:; the other was sent to 406:Expeditions from France 206:The figure of the earth 112:had surveyed the Paris- 56:Pierre Louis Maupertuis 340:-related article is a 238:Heine, George (2013). 157: 149: 127: 65:flattened at the poles 24: 155: 135: 118: 90:of approximately one 22: 156:Commemorating stamp. 31:was one of the two 401:Arctic expeditions 291:American Scientist 174:Piippola, Takalo. 158: 150: 25: 353: 352: 142:Norrbotten County 33:geodesic missions 418: 391:Geodetic surveys 374: 367: 360: 332: 325: 315: 314: 282: 276: 275: 235: 226: 225: 217: 211: 210: 197: 191: 190: 188: 187: 171: 76:RĂ©ginald Outhier 426: 425: 421: 420: 419: 417: 416: 415: 381: 380: 379: 378: 321: 319: 318: 284: 283: 279: 237: 236: 229: 219: 218: 214: 199: 198: 194: 185: 183: 173: 172: 168: 163: 146:Finnish Lapland 84: 71:had predicted. 17: 12: 11: 5: 424: 422: 414: 413: 408: 403: 398: 393: 383: 382: 377: 376: 369: 362: 354: 351: 350: 333: 317: 316: 297:(2): 125–127. 277: 227: 212: 192: 165: 164: 162: 159: 99:triangulations 83: 80: 60:Anders Celsius 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 423: 412: 411:Geodesy stubs 409: 407: 404: 402: 399: 397: 394: 392: 389: 388: 386: 375: 370: 368: 363: 361: 356: 355: 349: 347: 343: 339: 334: 331: 327: 322: 312: 308: 304: 300: 296: 292: 288: 281: 278: 273: 269: 265: 261: 257: 253: 249: 245: 244:Math Horizons 241: 234: 232: 228: 223: 216: 213: 208: 207: 202: 196: 193: 182:on 2007-12-11 181: 177: 170: 167: 160: 154: 147: 144:(Sweden) and 143: 139: 134: 130: 126: 124: 123:James Bradley 117: 115: 111: 106: 104: 100: 95: 93: 89: 81: 79: 77: 72: 70: 66: 61: 57: 52: 50: 49:Arctic Circle 46: 42: 38: 34: 30: 21: 346:expanding it 335: 320: 294: 290: 280: 250:(1): 25–29. 247: 243: 221: 215: 205: 195: 184:. Retrieved 180:the original 169: 137: 128: 119: 107: 96: 88:meridian arc 85: 73: 69:Isaac Newton 53: 28: 26: 110:Jean Picard 385:Categories 186:2008-03-23 161:References 303:0003-0996 264:1072-4117 209:. London. 311:29774598 203:(1738). 103:baseline 338:geodesy 138:Meänmaa 82:Results 67:as Sir 45:Meänmaa 41:Equator 309:  301:  270:  262:  114:Amiens 92:degree 336:This 307:JSTOR 268:JSTOR 342:stub 299:ISSN 260:ISSN 27:The 252:doi 140:in 387:: 305:. 295:80 293:. 289:. 266:. 258:. 248:21 246:. 242:. 230:^ 51:. 373:e 366:t 359:v 348:. 313:. 274:. 254:: 189:.

Index


geodesic missions
French Academy of Sciences
Equator
Meänmaa
Arctic Circle
Pierre Louis Maupertuis
Anders Celsius
flattened at the poles
Isaac Newton
RĂ©ginald Outhier
meridian arc
degree
triangulations
baseline
Jean Picard
Amiens
James Bradley

Norrbotten County
Finnish Lapland

"Maupertuis'n astemittaus Tornionlaaksossa 1736-1737"
the original
Maupertuis, Pierre-Louis Moreau de
The figure of the earth


"Euler and the Flattening of the Earth"
doi

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