Struve's Flat(ter) Earth (2023)
https://blog.datawrapper.de/struve-geodetic-arc/
Automated Summary
The article 'Struve’s flat(ter) Earth' discusses Friedrich Wilhelm von Struve's measurement of the Earth's size in the 1800s, an improvement on Eratosthenes' earlier work. Struve used triangulation, a more accurate method than the one Eratosthenes used. This method relies on the distance and angles between points to determine the position of a third point, allowing for a long chain of precisely calculated locations. Triangulation was used in the Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of 256 triangulation points stretching from Norway to the Black Sea. Established between 1816 and 1864, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Struve's work provided a more accurate global geographic reference system, enabling better navigation and mapping for military, political, and economic applications in the age of European exploration and colonization.
Flat(ter) here referring to the Earth as an ellipsoid, not an actual flat thing, in case people were wondering. Really enjoyed reading this, hadn't even realised how complex the political and technical practicalities of measuring the Earth were in the early 19thC.
Also, a much easier read than Pynchon's Mason and Dixon [0]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_%26_Dixon
The line now also has its own chonky non-fiction history:
https://www.harvard.com/book/mason-dixon/
> In its own day, the Arc crossed only one international border, between Sweden-Norway and the Russian Empire.
Looking at the map, it's not really clear why they decided to veer west to Swedish(-Norwegian) side of border instead of sticking closer to the Tartu meridian and staying within Russian(-Finnish) borders, terminating somewhere near current-day Utsjoki. Does anyone know the rationale for the route?
I'm pretty sure they simply followed the most accessible routes of the time. Going up north by Tornio river could be the only reasonable option without turning the expedition into survival adventure
Longer life expectancy?