This is a truly fantastic book that I enjoyed thoroughly. It is a historical account of a scientific venture whose results have shaped the world's system of weights and measures and given rise to the metric system as we know it today.

It tells the story with a human dimension of the efforts of Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre and Pierre-François-André Méchain who, during the French Revolution spent several years measuring the French meridian between northern France and northern Spain. Measuring this accurately was essential to determining the true length of the metre, based originally on one ten-millionth of the distance along the surface of the earth from the equator to the north pole.

This undertaking provided the basis for a universal system of weights and measures that is now used worldwide and replaces the many arcane and non-intuitive systems that went before it. It is the only system that makes complete sense from start to finish. But raving about the metric system is not what this book is about, much less this review. Just read the book!

Released to nut at the November Irish bookcrossing group meeting

Picked up at bookcrossingie meetup.

A good, interesting read. Interesting too to see the difference between the way science was done then and now.

Reserved for a non-BC friend who might like it.

Given to cartographer a while back.