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An Account of Experiments to Determine the Figure of the Earth by Means of the Pendulum Vibrating Seconds in Different Latitudes - As Well As on Various Other Subjects of Philosophical Inquiry (Paperback)
Loot Price: R1,665
Discovery Miles 16 650
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An Account of Experiments to Determine the Figure of the Earth by Means of the Pendulum Vibrating Seconds in Different Latitudes - As Well As on Various Other Subjects of Philosophical Inquiry (Paperback)
Series: Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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As early as the seventeenth century, scientists realised that a
pendulum swings more slowly at the equator than it would at the
North Pole. Newton predicted that gravity increased with latitude,
and that the Earth could not be perfectly spherical. Although
various experiments were undertaken to determine the exact degree
of this ellipticity, none proved successful until physicist Edward
Sabine (1788-1883) embarked on a series of expeditions across the
world. Based on pendulum measurements from a wide range of
latitudes, from Jamaica to Spitsbergen, his results were very
different to mathematical predictions, and far more accurate;
Charles Babbage would even complain that they were too good to be
true. In this account, which first appeared in 1825, Sabine
explains his methodology and presents his findings. His book opens
a fascinating window into nineteenth-century geodesy for students
in the history of science.
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