Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Jean Picard
Jean-Felix Picard (July 21, 1620 – July 12, 1682) was a French astronomer and priest born in La Fleche . He was the first person to measure the size of the Earth to a reasonable degree of accuracy. This was achieved by measuring one degree of latitude along the Paris Meridian using triangulation. His measurements produced a result of between 111 and 112km for one degree of latitude, which gives a corresponding terrestrial radius of 6372km. The polar radius has now been measured at 6357km.
10-26-2009 08:16:03
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details