Ce que Newton connut sans sortir de chez lui : Maupertuis et la forme de la terre dans les années 1730
What Newton knew without having to go out: Maupertuis and the shape of the Earth in the 1730's The expeditions organised by the Academy in Peru and Lapland were designed to provide a better measure of the meridian than that of the Cassinis, showing that the Earth was an oblate spheroid and not...
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
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1993
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| Online Access: | http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/28549/ http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/hism_0982-1783_1993_num_8_3_1601 |
| Summary: | What Newton knew without having to go out: Maupertuis and the shape of the Earth in the 1730's The expeditions organised by the Academy in Peru and Lapland were designed to provide a better measure of the meridian than that of the Cassinis, showing that the Earth was an oblate spheroid and not a prolate one. The Lapland expedition lead by Maupertuis (who had established fruitful contacts with Bernouilli and Celsius) was carefully prepared: the groundwork had to be made in difficult conditions, new instruments had to be built in London. Moreover, the experience was based upon principles put forward by foreign and protestant scholars such as Newton and Huyghens, and was due to collide with those of the cartographers of the King of France, such as the Cassinis, it was also a professional challenge by the astronomers of the efficiency and reliability of the cartographers. Opposition from Cassini led Maupertuis to devise a sophisticated strategy for the diffusion of his results, which were far from being above criticism, and ensure them an acceptable scientific status, especially by establishing links with the practices of other disciplines and in exploiting to the full Newton's autorithy; in the end, Maupertuis was even nicknamed "Sir Isac". Les expéditions organisées par l'Académie au Pérou et en Laponie étaient destinées à obtenir, en partant des théories de Newton, une mesure du méridien terrestre meilleure que celle des Cassini et à montrer que la Terre était « aplatie » et non « allongée ». L'expédition en Laponie, montée et dirigée par Maupertuis qui avait noué de fructueux contacts avec Bernouilli et Celsius, fut soigneusement préparée : le terrain était difficile, et il fallait obtenir des instruments spéciaux à Londres. Surtout, il fallait vaincre des réticences idéologiques : l'expérience n'était-elle pas fondée sur les principes de savants étrangers et protestants comme Newton et Huyghens, et ne heurtait-elle pas directement ceux des cartographes du roi de France, tels les Cassini ? C'était aussi un défi ... |
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