Beschreibung:

MAUPERTUIS, Pierre Louis Moreau de (1698-1759). La figure de la terre, déterminée par les observations de Messieurs de Maupertuis, Clairaut, Camus, Le Monnier, de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, & de M. l'Abbé Outhier... Accompangnés de M. Celsius, Professeur d'Astronomie à Upsal . Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1738.
MAUPERTUIS, Pierre Louis Moreau de (1698-1759). La figure de la terre, déterminée par les observations de Messieurs de Maupertuis, Clairaut, Camus, Le Monnier, de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, & de M. l'Abbé Outhier... Accompangnés de M. Celsius, Professeur d'Astronomie à Upsal . Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1738. 8 o (187 x 118 mm). Engraved folding map by Delahaye and 9 folding plates (first plate with small hole in blank area, plate 7 slightly discolored, some pale dampstaining). Contemporary French calf, spine gilt (rebacked preserving original spine compartments). FIRST EDITION. Along with Voltaire, Maupertuis was one of Newton's earliest proponents in France. Maupertuis, Clairaut, Le Monnier, Camus and the Abbé Outhier travelled to Lapland to prove the Newtonian hypothesis that the earth was flattened at the poles by establishing the length of a degree on the meridian at the North Pole, and comparing it with the length of degrees at other points on the meridian. The results of their investigation, which built on the work of Cassini de Thury, were published in this work. Babson 94; Norman 1458; Sabin 46946 (English ed.).