“The year is 1735. Twelve unruly men board ships bound for South America. Their mission? To discover the true shape of the Earth. They will be exposed to a wilderness of dangers none can imagine. The survivors won’t return for ten years.” (taken from the back cover of the book)
I can thoroughly recommend this books which puts into story form the epic journey of French and Spanish scientists to Ecuador to measure the equator and 2 degrees of latitude south of the equator, and thus determine whether the earth bulges at the equator or at the poles.
