The Measure of All Things - Ken Alder

Descriere The Measure of All Things - Ken Alder

In this entirely enthralling and beautifully written book (Simon Winchester), Alder tells the story of how science, revolutionary politics, and the dream of a new economy converged to produce the world's common language of measurement--the metric system--and its first struggle over globalization. \nIn June 1792, amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions on an extraordinary journey. Starting in Paris, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre would make his way north to Dunkirk, while Pierre-François-André Méchain voyaged south to Barcelona. Their mission was to measure the world, and their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator--a standard that would be used for all people, for all time. \nThe Measure of All Things is the astonishing tale of one of history's greatest scientific adventures. Yet behind the public triumph of the metric system lies a secret error, one that is perpetuated in every subsequent definition of the meter. As acclaimed historian and novelist Ken Alder discovered through his research, there were only two people on the planet who knew the full extent of this error: Delambre and Méchain themselves. \n \nBy turns a science history, detective tale, and human drama, The Measure of All Things describes a quest that succeeded as it failed--and continues to enlighten and inspire to this day.\n

Detalii

Brand

Free Press

Categorie

ENSTK

EAN / GTIN

9780743216760

Magazine

1

Disponibilitate

in stock