The Measure of All Things ~ by Ken Alder

Title, author, copyright date, and genre?
The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World ~ by Ken Alder, 2002, history

Summarize the book
Two intrepid astronomers set out from Paris, one north, one south. The French Revolution has started. Alder's history sounds like a novel. The two men are M. Delambre and M. Mechain, both members of the Academy of Sciences. Their measurements will help define the meter. Only after the meter has been announced does one learn that his partner made a mistake and tried to cover it up. The meter in is error. Feeling guilty drives one to the brink of madness, and the other has a decision to make. Which matters more, the truth or the appearance of the truth?

Why did you pick up the book?
Because it looked good and I like history. Because I wondered what transformed the world. Because "hidden error" tantalized me. And then I provided myself with a good "excuse" for getting the book: I could review it for the community's give-away paper which was publishing my book reviews. The summary above is the WHOLE review I was allowed back in March 2006. (Another one I reviewed for them was The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette; maybe I'll run across that review one of these days and share it with you, too.)

As a bookstore owner in the community, I was given a limited amount of space and a single column that would show the book cover (pictured above), the words "what people are reading," the book's title, and that teensy-tiny bit of a "review" you just read. Would my "review" make you want to pick up the book? I kind of like the last sentence: "Which matters more, the truth or the appearance of the truth?" You like it? Okay, then, I'll sell you my copy of the book for a mere $9 plus shipping. Oh, wait, I don't sell books anymore, do I? Nope, my used book store went out of business and I was no longer allowed to write (free) reviews for that (free) handout paper because I didn't represent a bookstore. (No, that still doesn't make sense to me. But now you know why I enjoy blogging.)

Was it a good book? Would you recommend it?
Yes, I do recommend it. It was fascinating to follow the two men as they triangulated their way toward each other along the Meridian of Paris, one working north from Barcelona and the other working south from Dunkirk. That triangulation map (left) gives you an idea of all the effort it took for them to do the map work. They would find elevated landmarks, like a building or a mountain station in the Pyrenees, and use those to get triangles in two or three directions. Their goal was to ascertain the exact length of the meter.

What did you like about it?
I love learning about things and how they work. One of the things I learned from reading this book was how the Borda Repeating Circle works. (That's it on the left. No, I'm not going to try to explain that here and, besides, do you think I learned it so well I could explain it to you two years after I read the book? Yes, I know I'm brilliant and all that, but not THAT brilliant!) Ken Alder made the book even more exciting by revealing some of the misery the scientists put up with, things like proving you weren't a threat during the French Revolution when you had been sent on this mission by a government agency! Sometimes that meant being delayed for months (no, that is not a typo). I was pulling for the good guys ... the scientists, I mean. And then came that error mentioned in the sub-title. When measurements must be exact, that's stressful in itself; when you realize you made a mistake, that adds to the stress. Why not just go back and fix the error? It wasn't that easy. And that's what made the book a thriller, even though much of it would seem boring to folks who read bestsellers. I had fun with it, though, and just look at how much of it I remember!

How would you rate it?
Rated 8/10, a very good book.