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Title
Date(s)
- 1746 - 1754 (Creation)
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Extent and medium
Holograph, 172 pages, bound in 18th century suede, 16.5x21.5cm
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Scope and content
The notebook contains observations made by De la Caille at the Cape and elsewhere; a list of expenses in connection with his observatory at St. Martin (Paris); and details of the mathematical basis for his calculations, including lists of formulae and trigonometrical proofs, used as an aide-memoire during his travels. There are calculations of some star coordinates, apparently made at the Cape, and, most important of all, a calculation of the difference in latitude between the Cape and Klipfontein for his determination of an arc of the meridian.
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Publication note
Nicolas-Louis De La Caille, Astronomer and Geodesist, by Ian Glass, Oxford University Press, 2013;
Nicolas-Louis de La Caille, Astronome et geodesien, traduit par James Lequeux, EDP Sciences, 2013