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Les mires méridiennes lointaines de l’Observatoire de Lyon : Recherches bibliographiques, archivistiques et archéologiques

Les mires méridiennes lointaines de l’Observatoire de Lyon : Recherches bibliographiques,... The first argument set out in 1877 by the Parisian astronomer Charles André, founder of the Observatoire de Lyon, to justify the establishment of an astronomical institute in Saint-Genis-Laval was the fact that it offered the opportunity to install remote marks along its meridian. André had used this argument three years before to reject another site selected by a local committee. However, at that time remote meridian marks had been abandoned by most astronomers in favour of close ones. We have conducted field research to discover the remains of these marks, as well as to seek evidence – both in the literature and in archives – of their use. This investigation shows that the argument for remote marks was in fact driven by geodetic considerations. The choice of Saint-Genis-Laval was actually made by geodesists of the Dépôt Général de la Guerre and its director, François Perrier, who wanted to institute new observatories in Province as key points in the primary geodetic network of France. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nuncius (successor of "Annali") Brill

Les mires méridiennes lointaines de l’Observatoire de Lyon : Recherches bibliographiques, archivistiques et archéologiques

Nuncius (successor of "Annali") , Volume 28 (2): 276 – Jan 1, 2013

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Subject
Articles
ISSN
0394-7394
eISSN
1825-3911
DOI
10.1163/18253911-02802002
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The first argument set out in 1877 by the Parisian astronomer Charles André, founder of the Observatoire de Lyon, to justify the establishment of an astronomical institute in Saint-Genis-Laval was the fact that it offered the opportunity to install remote marks along its meridian. André had used this argument three years before to reject another site selected by a local committee. However, at that time remote meridian marks had been abandoned by most astronomers in favour of close ones. We have conducted field research to discover the remains of these marks, as well as to seek evidence – both in the literature and in archives – of their use. This investigation shows that the argument for remote marks was in fact driven by geodetic considerations. The choice of Saint-Genis-Laval was actually made by geodesists of the Dépôt Général de la Guerre and its director, François Perrier, who wanted to institute new observatories in Province as key points in the primary geodetic network of France.

Journal

Nuncius (successor of "Annali")Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2013

Keywords: Observatoire de Lyon; geodesy; meridian marks

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