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The measure of all things
- "Professor Alder discussed his book, The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World. He talked about the creation of the metric system and Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre and Pierre Francois-Andrew Mechain, the two French astronomers who set out to create a standard system of measurement by equating the distance of the meridian arc that runs from the North Pole to the Equator. It was agreed that the meter itself would equal one ten-millionth of this distance. Professor Alder discovered that the astronomers actually came up short in their measurement, but that the effort they made produced invaluable information about that shape and formation of the Earth. Following his talk, he answered questions from members of the audience."
- "The measure of all things"