Alder_MeasureOfAllThings_Events

By KristinaBoylan
  • Period: to

    Events in Alder, Measure of All Things

    class activity to identify significant dates from chapters and resources

  • Lalande travels to Berlin to work on astronomical distance

    p. 77 -- Lalande sent by his master on astronomical mission to Berlin to help determine distance from Earth to the Moon (also see illustration)
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    Borda puts repeating circle to use

    p. 53 Borda using repeating circle, publishing results; illustrations p. 54-55

  • Members of Meridian Mission designated

    p. 19 -- members of the Meridian mission designated

  • US Senate recommends a new standard as the national unit of length

    p. 238 -- US Senate recommends a new standard as the national unit of length -- debate on adopting French (or any other) standard continues

  • Delambre orders rebuilding of observatory for better measurements

    p 25-26 [paperback; ebook location?]. Delambre leading Observatory rebuilding, restoration, goal of establishing knowledge beyond error

  • Provisional meter stick made

    p. 131 -- provisional meter sticks made (note: corresponds to material on CHNM website; "Adoption of the Metric System," 1 Aug. 1793), https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/967/

  • Mechain builds observatory alongside fortress tower of Mont-Jouy

    Alder p. 59--Mechain in Catalonia (part of Spain), also trying to get best sighting locations possible
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    concurrent events -- Delambre's observatory and revolutionary upheaval

    p. 75 At the same time Delambre's observatory is being built for measurement, Louis XVI tried and executed, war declared, food riots in Paris.

  • Mechains final triangulations on Mont Jouy

    p. 64 [elec] Mechains final triangulations on Mont Jouy, Barcelona, using to verify distance Fontana de Oro and Mont Jouy

  • Partial meter stick distribution (<1,000)

    p. 126 (ch 5)-- Revolutionary govt produces fewer than 1,000 meter sticks; not being used by public

  • French Directory, Decree Regarding Weights and Measures

    Text of excerpt of April 1795 decree describing changes in weights and measures as a benefit of the Revolution, and extends timeline of an earlier decree (April 1793) to make their use obligatory. From John Hall Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 555–60, reproduced at “Culture: Weights and Measures,” LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION, accessed November 7, 2023, https://revolution.chnm.org/d/463 .

  • Delambre and Mechain resume triangulation mission,

    p. 181 -- Summer 1795 -- Delambre and Mechain resume triangulation mission, promise to meet in Rodez [switch to range]

  • Delambre arrives in Rodez

    p. 206 -- Delambre arrives in Rodez, notes in logbook, final labor, end of travels

  • Mechain and Delambre set out to Paris

    p. 233 -- Mechain and Delambre set out to Paris (reporting to international conference)

  • Mechain dies of malaria

    5:00am, Thurs Sept 20 1804 (p. 284)--day Mechain dies from malaria; source (p. 383), from his medical journal

  • Publication of Ken Alder, The Measure of All Things