Chapter · Ecuador · Land
Four worlds and a record summit
The most measured territory in the world, and what each measurement missed
Chimborazo is not the highest mountain in the world, and yet its summit is the point on Earth's surface farthest from the planet's centre. The reason lies in the shape of the Earth itself, the shape French scientists came here to measure in 1735. This path rests on their own texts, on Humboldt's and Darwin's, and on the satellite measurement of 2016.
Context first
A lesson to read before the others, to set the scene.
- The place
- The era
- The people
The lessons in this chapter
- 1Weighing the Earth with a mountainIn December 1738 Bouguer camped on Chimborazo to weigh the Earth with a mountain. It pulls less than its volume promises, so the inside of the globe is six or seven times denser than its surface.10 min
- 2The one who was rightFour measurements of Chimborazo before the satellite, and the oldest, which Humboldt calls approximate, is eleven metres from the 2016 figure. Humboldt's own is wrong by nearly three hundred.9 min
- 3What Darwin did not seeIt was not Darwin who noticed that each island had its own species: it was the vice-governor, Mr Lawson, with his tortoises. Darwin first neglected the information, and mingled the collections from two islands.10 min
How these lessons are written
Each lesson starts from first-hand sources: Wikisource, Gallica, Persée, archives, museums and institutes. A fact without a source does not get written, and every lesson lists its own as direct links.
The rhythm
A lesson is five minutes of cards and four questions. Those questions then come back the next day, then at 3, 7, 21 and 60 days, and that return is what makes it stick. One a day is enough, and you can do several in a row.