The Man Who Flattened the Earth: Maupertuis and the Sciences in the Enlightenment
By
Mary Terrall (Author)
Hardback
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Description
Self-styled adventurer, literary wit, and statesman of science, Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698 - 1759) stood at the center of Enlightenment science and culture. With "The Man Who Flattened the Earth", Mary Terrall offers an elegant portrait of this remarkable man, revealing just how his private life and public works made him a man of science in eighteenth-century Europe. Maupertuis entered the public eye with a much-discussed expedition to Lapland and went on to make significant and often intentionally controversial contributions to physics, life science, and astronomy. Equally at ease in cafes and royal courts, Maupertuis used his social connections and his printed works to enhance a carefully constructed reputation as both a man of letters and a man of science. Terrall not only illuminates the life and work of Maupertuis but also delves into larger Enlightenment issues, including the development of scientific institutions, the impact of print culture on science, and the often vexed interactions of science and government.
About the Author
Mary Terrall is associate professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles.
More Details
- Contributor: Mary Terrall
- Imprint: University of Chicago Press
- ISBN13: 9780226793603
- Number of Pages: 468
- Packaged Dimensions: 16x23x3mm
- Packaged Weight: 709
- Format: Hardback
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Release Date: 2003-05-06
- Binding: Hardback
- Biography: Mary Terrall is associate professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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