"Earth is pear-shaped" became headline news in March 1958 when the Vanguard satellite’s orbit deviated from expectations, irreparably confusing a generation of schoolchildren and their geography teachers.
That the Earth is round had been known for centuries; that it might also be (very) slightly oval was also long-suspected, although we disagreed with the French as to which way the oval went. How did we work it out?
Who was Mercator, how (on Earth) did he make his projection, and why is it not always used?
How did the Swallows and Amazons make their map of the Walton Backwaters with nothing but a compass and a few sticks; how did the Romans give their aqueducts a slope of 1 in 3,000; and how did the Egyptians align their pyramids?
Plus: why, if points had been given for effort, the Prime Meridian really should have run through Paris; how a globe, bought for £150 at a Welsh antiques fair during Covid, then sold at auction for a quarter of a million; and how Gladys West’s model of the Earth allows your GPS to work.
Please note: lectures can be watched live online but we do not generally make recordings available after the event, for a number of reasons relating to time and copyright issues.
Date: Wednesday 12 March 2025
Time: 19:00
Place: CA House or, for the webinar broadcast via Zoom, your own home or boat
Booking (to attend at CA House): To book places on any lecture, and to indicate whether you’ll be ordering food, click on [Book venue]. Please pay in advance on the website, or by contactless on the door. Any problems with the booking system, call or email the Events Administrator at CA House on 020 7537 2828/events@theca.org.uk
Tickets (to attend at CA House): Members £4, non-members £7.
Booking (to join the webinar via Zoom): The webinar broadcast is open to members, including Crewing Service members, only. You will need to login to see the details below.
If you would like to join the webinar broadcast, please register via Zoom here. There will be no charge for viewing online.
