Méridiens. Mesurer, partager, dominer le monde

My notes

I read an entire book about the history of meridians because I am writing The Longest Year in the World, and I found it fascinating. It is a very specific subject and Argounès goes into enormous depth. At times it reads more like a thesis than a popular history book, so it can become too dense if maps, science and imaginary lines do not genuinely interest you. What I liked most is how it dismantles the convenient story in which science passes neatly from Greece to Rome and then to the European Renaissance. Many different histories intersect here: Alexandria, Ujjain, Baghdad, China, al-Andalus, Japan, India and Europe. It also explains how meridians have been used to measure the Earth, organise maps, build empires and divide territories. I discovered stories I had not even considered for my own book, such as the Madras and Kyoto meridians or the partition of Antarctica. I will end up writing about several of them because they are far too good to leave out.