The Great Arc

The Great Arc

The Dramatic Tale of how India was Mapped and Everest was Named

Paperback
Rs 823
Genre:Asian History
Language : English
Published: January 01, 2001
Edition:6th
Paperback
ISBN13:9780006531234
ISBN10:0006531237
Pages:226
Dimensions:5.08 x 7.8 x 0.56 inches
Weight:1047.8 g

About the Book

A vivid description of one of the most ambitious scientific projects undertaken in the 19th century, and the men who undertook the measurement of the Himalayas and the mapping of the Indian William Lambton and George Everest. The graphic story of the measurement of a meridian, or longitudinal, arc extending from the tip of the Indian subcontinent to the mountains of the Himalayas. Much the longest such measurement hitherto made, it posed horrendous technical difficulties, made impossible physical demands on the survey parties (jungle, tigers, mountains etc.), and took over 50 years. But the scientific results were commensurate, including the discovery of the world's highest peaks and a new calculation of the curvature of the earth's surface. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 triggered a massive construction of roads, railways, telegraph lines and canals throughout all depended heavily on the accuracy of the maps which the Great Arc had made possible.