 Euler and Maupertuis on the Figure of the EarthAthanase Papadopoulos ()
Chapter Chapter 3 in Mathematical Geography in the Eighteenth Century: Euler, Lagrange and Lambert, 2022, pp 47-79 from Springer Abstract: Abstract In this chapter, we review Euler’s work on geography in relation with that of the French astronomer, geographer, philosopher and naturalist Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis. The latter was the president of the Prussian Academy of Sciences during the period in which Euler worked there, and he exerted some influence on him. More especially, we shall comment on a question that had an important impact on the works of both scientists, namely, that of the figure of the Earth. Indeed, two conflicting theories were in competition when Euler and Maupertuis started working on geography, one theory pretending that the Earth, rather than being spherical, has the form of a spheroid elongated at the poles and flattened at the equator, and the other one saying on the contrary that the Earth has the form of a spheroid flattened at the poles and elongated at the equator. Our ultimate goal is to show the impact of this question on mathematics, and in particular on the differential geometry of surfaces, first in the work of Euler, and then, in the works of later mathematicians. Date: 2022 There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-09570-2_3 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-09570-2_3 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Springer Books from Springer |
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