LEADER 04453nam 2200637Ia 450 001 9910826527303321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a1-282-93294-2 010 $a9786612932946 010 $a0-226-79362-1 024 7 $a10.7208/9780226793627 035 $a(CKB)2670000000059996 035 $a(EBL)625223 035 $a(OCoLC)692205220 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000422564 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11250220 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000422564 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10417974 035 $a(PQKB)11244710 035 $a(StDuBDS)EDZ0000123064 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC625223 035 $a(DE-B1597)523462 035 $a(OCoLC)1135569944 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780226793627 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL625223 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10433757 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL293294 035 $a(EXLCZ)992670000000059996 100 $a20020430d2002 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurnn#---|u||u 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe man who flattened the earth $eMaupertuis and the sciences in the enlightenment /$fMary Terrall 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aChicago $cUniversity of Chicago Press$dc2002 215 $a1 online resource (420 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 0 $a0-226-79361-3 311 0 $a0-226-79360-5 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 371-392) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tList of Illustrations --$tAcknowledgments --$tList of Abbreviations --$tA Note on Translations --$t1. Portrait of a Man of Science --$t2. From Saint-Malo to Paris --$t3. Mathematics and Mechanics in the Paris Academy of Sciences --$t4. The Expedition to Lapland --$t5. The Polemical Aftermath of the Lapland Expedition --$t6. Beyond Newton and on to Berlin --$t7. Toward a Science of Living Things --$t8. The Berlin Academy of Sciences --$t9. Teleology, Cosmology, and Least Action --$t10. Heredity and Materialism --$t11. The Final Years --$tBibliography --$tIndex 330 $aSelf-styled adventurer, literary wit, philosopher, and statesman of science, Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759) stood at the center of Enlightenment science and culture. Offering an elegant and accessible portrait of this remarkable man, Mary Terrall uses the story of Maupertuis's life, self-fashioning, and scientific works to explore what it meant to do science and to be a man of science in eighteenth-century Europe. Beginning his scientific career as a mathematician in Paris, Maupertuis entered the public eye with a much-discussed expedition to Lapland, which confirmed Newton's calculation that the earth was flattened at the poles. He also made significant, and often intentionally controversial, contributions to physics, life science, navigation, astronomy, and metaphysics. Called to Berlin by Frederick the Great, Maupertuis moved to Prussia to preside over the Academy of Sciences there. Equally at home in salons, cafés, scientific academies, 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. His social and institutional affiliations, in turn, affected how Maupertuis formulated his ideas, how he presented them to his contemporaries, and the reactions they provoked. Terrall not only illuminates the life and work of a colorful and important Enlightenment figure, but also uses his story to delve into many wider issues, including the development of scientific institutions, the impact of print culture on science, and the interactions of science and government. Smart and highly readable, Maupertuis will appeal to anyone interested in eighteenth-century science and culture. "Terrall's work is scholarship in the best sense. Her explanations of arcane 18th-century French physics, mathematics, astronomy, and biology are among the most lucid available in any language."-Virginia Dawson, American Historical Review Winner of the 2003 Pfizer Award from the History of Science Society 606 $aScientists$zFrance$vBiography 615 0$aScientists 676 $a509.2 676 $aB 700 $aTerrall$b Mary$01710952 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910826527303321 996 $aThe man who flattened the earth$94101934 997 $aUNINA