The Problem of the Earth's Shape from Newton to Clairaut : The Rise of Mathematical Science in Eighteenth-century Paris and the Fall of 'normal' Scien (Paperback)

Preface; 1. Isaac Newton's theory of a flattened Earth; 2. The state of the problem of the Earth's shape in the 1720s: stalemate; 3. The revival of geodesy in Paris (1733?1735); 4. Pierre Bouguer and the theory of homogeneous figures of equilibrium (1734); 5. Maupertuis: on the theory of the Earth's shape (1734); 6. Alexis-Claude Clairaut's first theories of the Earth's shape; 7. Interlude I: integral calculus (1690?1741); 8. Interlude II: the Paris academy contest on the tides (1740); 9. Clairaut's mature theory of the Earth's shape (1741?1743): first substantial connections between the revival of mathematics in Paris and progress in mechanics there; 10. Epilogue: Fontaine's and Clairaut's advances in the partial differential calculus revisited, or the virtues of interrelated developments in mathematics and science, and the fall of 'normal' science; Notes to chapters; Biography.