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In 1791 the French Academy of Sciences decided to have the size of the Earth measured once more, to a superior accuracy, hoping that perhaps the size of the Earth could be determined to some 10 metre accuracy. This would translate to the error of one metre etalon to be about 1 micrometer. The task of determining the size of the Earth was entrusted to a pair of geodesists/astronomers, P.F.A. M?chain and J.-B.J. Delambre, both highly regarded members of the Academy. Their task was to measure as accurately as possibl...