Petites histoires de science - New series "The Shape of the Earth" - with Etienne Ghys
News
In these episodes, Étienne Ghys, Secrétaire perpétuel de l'Académie des sciences, explores the figure of the Earth.
Mathieu Baumer
How do we know that the Earth is round? That it turns on itself? Why was it long thought to be flat in the Middle Ages? How have scientists measured the dimensions of our planet, sometimes under extreme conditions?
This season of Little Science Story is devoted to one of history's greatest scientific adventures: the gradual discovery of the Earth's true shape. Through a series of episodes, we explore the ancient proofs of the globe's roundness, the great measurement campaigns of the XVIIᵉ and XVIIIᵉ centuries, Maupertuis's expeditions to Lapland, Arago's adventure, the birth of the metric system, and the contributions of modern geophysics.
The gradual discovery of the real shape of the Earth, one of history's greatest scientific adventures
We'll see how the shape of the Earth became a scientific, political and geopolitical issue, at the crossroads of astronomy, physics, mathematics and navigation. We'll also follow debates between scientists, rivalries between nations, and advances in instrumentation.=
This season accompanies the exhibition organized jointly by the Académie des sciences and the Royal Society, on show at the Bibliothèque Mazarine from March 31. It extends, in audio form, this plunge into three centuries of science and exploration.
At a time when doubts and misconceptions about our planet are still circulating, this season invites us to understand how, step by step, humanity has learned to measure the Earth - and, through it, to better situate itself in the universe.
Episode 1 - How do we know the Earth is round?
Episode 2 - The Flat Earth Myth
More episodes on this theme coming soon in Petites histoires de sciences!
- How do we know the Earth rotates? (coming soon)
- How did Newton calculate the flattening of the globe without leaving his desk? (coming soon)
- Maupertuis's adventure in Lapland (coming soon)
- Arago's youth (coming soon)
Science stories
Petites histoires de science is a weekly podcast from the Académie des Sciences devoted to the great scientific adventures that have shaped the way we understand the world. In fifteen minutes or so, each episode explores a historical episode, a discovery, a controversy or a character, always with a concern for clarity and context.
These stories are aimed at a curious audience, with no technical prerequisites, but keen to go beyond received ideas. For science is neither a series of fixed truths, nor a simple catalog of results: it is a patient, collective and often conflicting construction, made up of errors, debates, experiments and revisions.
Through the history of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geophysics, computer science, ecology, climatology and Earth sciences, this podcast proposes to understand how knowledge is made, how it circulates, and why it deserves to be defended with rigor and humility.
Each season tackles a particular theme, broken down into several complementary episodes, to give a glimpse of science "in the making", in all its human, cultural and intellectual richness.
"I like to talk about science and give a voice to those who do it, in France or elsewhere, but also to those who are interested in it, who use it or who work with scientists. The themes will be chosen according to the people I meet, current events, the questions I'm asked, the discussions and conferences I attend, and whatever piques my curiosity."