The adventures of Jorge Juan and Antonio Ulloa are well known to most historians of early Latin America. The same is not true of the scientific background and details of their famous expedition. This book focuses primarily on the expedition as a significant event in the history of geodesy—the study of the size and the shape of the earth. Fully one-third of the volume surveys the background of geodesy and the conflict between Cartesian and Newtonian viewpoints on the earth's shape. This dense, and at times difficult to follow, discussion is a prelude to a description of the scientific activities in Quito, complete with tables of measurements and illustrations of calculations.
Between the chapters on geodesy is an interesting discourse about the participants in the expedition and their many and diverse adventures and discoveries. The works of Leonard and Whitaker will still be essential reading for understanding the expedition, but this book offers important insights on the interaction of the scientists with the local community. The authors then return to their main theme of geodesy, and the attempts to measure a degree of longitude in Quito. They conclude with a good description of the efforts to publicize the discoveries in Spain. National pride and personal prestige were at stake as accounts of the expedition were prepared for print.
This book offers much to students of the history of science, especially to those interested in geodesy. It helps to define more clearly the contributions of Spain to a scientific discipline usually studied from the French or English perspective. Its lavish illustrations help make it attractive to a general audience.
