The Great Arc

The Great Arc

Author: John Keay
Category: Fiction
UK Publisher: HarperCollins
UK Publication Date: [21/08/00]

This text is the graphic story of the measurement of a meridian, or longitudinal, arc extending from the tip of the Indian subcontinent to the mountains of the Himalayas. Much the longest such measurement hitherto made, it posed horrendous technical difficulties, made impossible physical demands on the survey parties and took over 50 years. But the scientific results were commensurate, including the discovery of the world's highest peaks and a new calculation of the curvature of the earth's surface.

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Author: John Keay

John Keay is the author of numerous classic histories and travel works. He specialises in Asian subjects but lives in Scotland and is co-editor, with Julia Keay, of the seminal Collins Encylopaedia of Scotland (2nd edition 2001). His first book, ...

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