Jean Richer na Guiana francesa (1672-1673): a expedição e sua contribuição para a história da astronomia e da geodésia

Laurent Polidori

doi:10.53727/rbhc.v14i2.642

Authors

Laurent Polidori Instituto de Geociências/Universidade Federal do Pará https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6220-9561

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53727/rbhc.v14i2.642

Keywords:

Jean Richer, Cayenne, astronomy, geodesy

Abstract

Astronomy, which experienced an unprecedented boom in the 17th century, and geodesy, which applies astronomy to determine the size and shape of the Earth, were at the heart of the activities of the Académie Royale des Sciences, founded in Paris in 1666. Alongside renowned astronomers such as Huygens, Picard and Cassini, this article is dedicated to Jean Richer, remained almost unknown despite the essential observations he made during his mission in Cayenne (1672-1673), and which contributed to know the size of the solar system and the shape of the Earth. The article also discusses the biased way in which the results of that mission were reported in subsequent scientific literature.

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