The first is a direct
geometrical and astronomical method, while in the other two we determine
from accurately observed movements the amount of the forces which occasion
those movements, and from these forces we arrive at the cause from whence
they have originated, viz., the compression of our terrestrial spheroid. In
this part of my delineation of nature, contrary to my usual practice, I have
instanced methods because their accuracy affords a striking illustration of
the intimate connection existing among the forms and forces of natural
phenomena, and also because their application has given occasion to
improvements in the exactness of instruments (as those employed in the
measurements of space) in optical and chronological observations; to greater
perfection in the fundamental branches of astronomy and mechanics in respect
to lunar motion and to the resistance experienced by the oscillations of the
pendulum; and to the discovery of new and hitherto untrodden paths of
analysis. With the exception of the investigations of the parallax of
stars, which led to the discovery of aberration and nutation, the history of
science presents no problem in which the object attained -- the knowledge of
the compression and of the irregular form of our planet -- is so far
exceeded in importance by the incidental gain which has accrued, through a
long and weary course of investigation, in the general furtherance and
improvement of the mathematical and astronomical sciences.
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